Boerderijen 1883 - 1922

Curator: Welcome! Here we have "Boerderijen," a pencil drawing from between 1883 and 1922 by Johanna van de Kamer. Editor: It has such a tentative, almost shy quality to it. These farmhouses sketched with such light pencil work. The lines are delicate and it captures something so very quiet and private. Curator: Exactly! Note how the toned paper contributes to the feeling of intimacy. The light pencil work shows how van de Kamer experimented with sketching. What does the quick nature of these light sketches say about her labor? Editor: Well, thatching certainly takes an intensive labor input; notice how the sketch renders the iconic thatched roofs? In many cultures, thatched roofs symbolize warmth, security, and communal living, drawing on a sense of agrarian continuity. It echoes a cultural longing for a simpler, more connected past. Curator: It’s true the drawing hints at the structures that provide this very sense of belonging. But considering it’s a sketch, perhaps she did not seek to illustrate a final, idealized state. Editor: I see them as holding powerful archetypes. Farmhouses have been featured in many folk tales and represent universal ideas like home, hearth and history. Curator: I would encourage a more direct reading. Van de Kamer had to gather materials like the pencils, she had to physically apply it to paper; each action contributing to its creation, its materiality. We should acknowledge that such means contribute to this seemingly universal symbol of "home" to which you allude. Editor: Perhaps. The lack of much visible human presence contributes to that symbolic reading, though. These humble dwellings, reduced to just outlines, point towards a certain universal understanding of "home". They stir deep-seated emotional and psychological chords. Curator: Perhaps we find some resolution by emphasizing it is in a personal sketchbook? These dwellings, their means of production are for the artists eyes alone, giving space for raw emotion? Editor: Indeed, both as structures in the world and as traces in this sketchbook they remind us of home and our shared humanity. Curator: And with that thought, let’s move to our next work.