Portrætstudie af malerinden Ellen Olrik, profil mod venstre 1926 - 1930

This is a study of the painter Ellen Olrik, in profile, made with pencil on paper by Edvard Weie. It's not dated, but it's clearly about trying to figure something out, and for me, that’s where the magic lies. I find myself drawn to the marks around the hair, like Weie is carving out the shape of the head by chiselling with the side of the pencil, back and forth. This is process as discovery: a willingness to follow the line where it leads, rather than forcing it to conform to some preconceived notion. You can feel Weie thinking, questioning, and revising his vision with each stroke. Weie's ability to find the extraordinary in the ordinary reminds me a lot of Picasso, who also had this incredible ability to rework and rework a single motif until it became something entirely new. But Weie's touch is all his own. For me, this piece is a reminder that art is as much about the questions we ask as the answers we find.