Gevouwen vorm 1986

Maria van Elk made this artwork, Gevouwen vorm, out of paper, creating a play of folded lines and a central painted form. You can imagine her handling the paper, creasing and folding, deciding how the lines will intersect and frame the space. The pink hexagon feels so solid against the delicate, almost translucent paper. It makes you wonder about the relationship between geometry and fragility; the hard-edged shape softened by the vulnerability of its support. I think of Agnes Martin and the ways she used grids to structure her compositions, but van Elk seems more interested in the possibilities of a single form, repeated and recontextualized. It reminds me that art making is about discovering what can happen when you put simple things together. It’s a conversation, not just with oneself, but with all the artists who came before, and the ones who will follow. We’re all just pushing paint around, folding paper, trying to find something new in the process.