Vrouw voor spiegel 1972

Editor: Okay, next up is "Vrouw voor spiegel," or "Woman in front of a mirror," an ink drawing from 1972 by Rein Dool, currently housed in the Rijksmuseum. There’s something almost unsettling about this piece...the flatness, the patterned dress, and especially the reflected image. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Unsettling, yes, absolutely! For me, that's the spark. The mirror, of course, is the hook – it should reveal, but here it distorts, posing a question rather than an answer. Who *is* she seeing in the mirror? The work becomes a quiet but biting critique on constructed identity. Are we just patterned surfaces reflecting other surfaces? Editor: I see what you mean. I was initially focused on the oddness of the figures. Is Dool making a comment on societal beauty standards, maybe? Curator: Possibly. Though it also evokes that surrealist feeling of alienation that was around in the 70's. Dool uses a stark contrast to create visual tension. The almost oppressive black rectangle of a dark portal beside the flat picture plane of the figure. And look at those lines! Raw, honest… they refuse to beautify. Don’t you think the composition sort of emphasizes a discomfort with being perceived? Editor: That makes sense! It feels so exposed in a way, even though she’s covered. It makes the experience of viewing her feel sort of voyeuristic. Curator: Exactly. It's a conversation with the gaze. And, in a way, with our own self-perceptions reflected in the expectations around us. Thank you for articulating that...a key point that maybe had become lost on me, until now! Editor: This has really made me think about the performative aspect of identity... Curator: Absolutely. These drawings are gifts.