Tinker woman 1968

This is Dirkje Kuik’s ‘Tinker Woman’, an etching made at some point in the mid-twentieth century. It's all about the scratchy marks, isn't it? Like a drawing made in the dark. You can almost feel the artist working her way around the form, feeling with her fingers as much as her eyes. The texture of the lines create the image of the woman, her dark skirt and long coat seeming to bristle with a strange kind of energy. See the way the lines almost vibrate and move on the surface? Those marks describe volume, but they also have a feeling all of their own, a kind of restless presence. Then notice the more faded figures sketched in the background, like ghostly memories. It makes me think of Käthe Kollwitz, who was also drawn to these sorts of subjects, but there’s something even more raw and unvarnished about Kuik’s approach here. Ultimately, it’s the feeling of the image that counts; it’s up to you to respond to it.