Briefkaart aan Jan Toorop Possibly 1901 - 1905

This is a postcard to Jan Toorop by Jan Zoetelief Tromp. The ink looks like it’s aged a little, and the handwriting is beautiful but you can see the mark making of the pen – how the pressure changes as the writer makes each individual stroke. It reminds me of the way I try to make my paintings, allowing the mark itself to speak. And look at the smudges around the stamps, the imperfections and traces of a life lived – the way the thing was handled, posted, and delivered. It’s about something very physical, the act of writing a postcard, putting a stamp on it, and getting it to its destination. It's a world of process. It reminds me of Cy Twombly's work, not just in the handwriting, but in that sense of something very fleeting being made permanent on the page. It becomes a sort of frozen moment of thought, but one that still feels very alive. These marks are a document of an action, a moment in time.