Blad 160 uit Stamboek van de leerlingen der Koloniale School voor Meisjes en Vrouwen te 's-Gravenhage deel II (1930-1949) c. 1949

This page from a register of students at the Koloniale School voor Meisjes en Vrouwen, somewhere in the Netherlands between 1930-1949, is covered in beautiful handwriting, which, like a series of brushstrokes, form a painting of past lives. I can only imagine the anonymous archivist painstakingly filling in the information, a slow accumulation of marks and gestures that built up to represent each individual, an act of care and dedication to the community. I think of Agnes Martin, and how something so seemingly neutral like the grid, when created by hand, becomes a vehicle for intimacy. What are the stories of these young women? I wonder. Looking closer at the marks, the shapes of the letters create a sense of rhythm and repetition, almost meditative in their execution. The varying weights of the ink form a subtle interplay of light and shadow, giving the page a textural depth that resonates with my own artistic sensibility. Each stroke is so deliberate, so personal, an intimate artifact of human expression. It reminds me that, as painters, we are always in conversation with the past, drawing inspiration from those who came before, finding new ways to express the timeless human experience.