Vrouwen die objecten vervoeren op hun hoofd bij een tempel op Bali 1915 - 1919

Wijnand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp made this print of women carrying objects on their heads near a temple in Bali using brown ink on paper. I love how the overall effect is soft but busy, like a memory or a dream, it makes me want to let my thoughts drift. The limited color palette and the intricate linework create a sense of depth and texture, pulling me in closer. It’s all in brown ink, like a sepia photograph. Check out the way Nieuwenkamp used the hatching to describe the shadows on the women’s skirts! He uses a similar density of lines to depict the foliage and the temple walls around the women, blurring the line between the figures and the landscape. It's the kind of piece that reminds you that art is always a conversation, an ongoing exchange of seeing and feeling. Think of artists like Paula Modersohn-Becker, who also looked to non-Western cultures for inspiration, using what she saw to explore new forms of expression.