Landscape with Farmstead 

Editor: Here we have Tomás Joseph Harris' "Landscape with Farmstead," created with pen, and it reminds me of a quick sketch from a travel journal. There's something about the immediacy of the linework that feels very personal and evocative. How do you interpret this work? Curator: The rapid, almost frantic linework invites us to consider Harris's engagement with the landscape, and its potential socio-political implications. Where was this farmstead? What communities lived there? These aren’t passive scenes; they exist within systems of power and land ownership, historically fraught with conflict. The dilapidated appearance may imply socio-economic disparity. What is this saying about class structures of the time, who profits and who loses? Editor: That’s interesting. I was so focused on the visual aesthetic. Curator: Exactly! Consider the absence of human figures. Is that a deliberate statement about their relationship to the land, or a commentary on the visibility – or invisibility – of certain groups within the prevailing social narratives? Editor: So you’re saying this simple landscape can actually be read as a social critique? Curator: It invites that reading. How does it make you feel, now thinking about the power structures that might be in play? Editor: It makes me wonder about the people who called that place home. There’s a story there that the sketch isn't directly telling. I might have missed it entirely if you hadn’t pointed that out! Curator: And that is precisely where art history becomes activism—recognizing the stories unspoken, the histories suppressed.