Batikmotieven, onder andere met vogels c. 1916 - 1945

Reijer Stolk made this study of Batikmotieven, onder andere met vogels with graphite on paper, probably in the early 20th century. The page is filled with different shapes and patterns, a collection of geometric and organic forms – it's like a visual playground. What strikes me is the immediacy of the marks. You can almost feel Stolk’s hand moving across the page. The graphite is applied with varying pressure, creating a range of light and dark tones. Look at the palm tree design at the center, you can see how the artist varies the weight of the lines to create a sense of depth and texture, with the word 'Ibadan' inscribed below. There's a real sense of the artist thinking through drawing, trying out different possibilities. It reminds me of the notebooks of Hilma af Klint, another artist who was deeply engaged with pattern and symbolism, but Stolk seems less interested in the final product than in the process of exploration. In the end, art is not about answers, but about the questions we ask along the way.