Picture Frame-Carved Wood c. 1936

Natalie Simon made this drawing of a Picture Frame with carved wood at some point in her long life. What strikes me is the relationship between the delicate ornamentation of the frame and the dark, undefined space around it. The frame itself is rendered with a sort of loving precision, each little swirl and flourish carefully delineated. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving slowly, tracing the contours of the design. But then, there’s that inky blackness surrounding it, loose and gestural. The contrast makes the frame feel almost like it’s floating in a void. It’s a beautiful tension. It makes me think of Hilma af Klint and her abstract, geometric paintings, where she was also exploring the relationship between the known and the unknown. Both artists seem interested in visualizing something that’s just beyond our grasp, something that hovers between the seen and the unseen. Ultimately, it’s a reminder that art isn’t about answers, it’s about questions.