[no title] 1995

Curator: The tangle of lines gives it an almost frantic energy. It feels raw and immediate. Editor: We're looking at an untitled etching by Per Kirkeby. He was a Danish artist born in 1938 and this print is part of the Tate Collection. Curator: Etching is such an intimate medium, and the landscape here feels like a remembered fragment, not a direct representation. The jagged lines could be branches, or even cracks in the earth. Editor: Kirkeby often worked with geological themes. He trained as a geologist, and that scientific lens is very present throughout his artistic career. He’s really known for his brick sculptures, his paintings, and for works on paper like this one. The mark-making here does feel like an attempt to understand the structure of the natural world. Curator: Definitely, the lines have a symbolic quality. They could be read as a visual metaphor for the hidden forces that shape the landscape, or the psychological impact of the natural world. Editor: It makes me think of the way landscapes are used, and often romanticized in Danish culture. Curator: True, there’s both tension and beauty here. Editor: It's a poignant glimpse into the artist’s mind.