Vis 1887 - 1924

Julie de Graag made this little woodcut, Vis, sometime before she died in 1924. Imagine her carving into that block of wood, figuring out how to describe the texture of the fish’s scales with just a few cuts. I can relate to the challenge of capturing something so alive in a still form. It's like trying to pin down a feeling. De Graag probably looked at a real fish and thought about the way the light hits its body underwater. Those vertical lines next to the fish could be weeds or the bars of a tank. I wonder if de Graag felt a bit like that fish sometimes, swimming in her own world, looking out. It reminds me of other artists who find beauty in simple things, like Morandi with his bottles. It's all about looking closely and finding your own way to translate what you see into something new.