Iron Balcony c. 1936

Arelia Arbo made this black and white drawing of an iron balcony, but when? There are many different ways of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world. I imagine Arbo spending hours rendering each little black dot with her pen, carefully building up the shadows and textures. It’s like she’s creating a whole world with just tiny marks. The surface almost vibrates with this quiet intensity. I’m wondering about that window and the balcony... What’s behind it? What’s it like to stand there? I see Arbo looking at the world, distilling it down to these essential forms. It makes me consider the work of Agnes Martin and other artists who use repetition and simplicity to create something powerful. Art-making is an embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations and meaning. It shows how we're all in an ongoing conversation, exchanging ideas across time, inspiring each other's creativity.