"Angmássivik ÍkátoK" 1863

This landscape, "Angmássivik ÍkátoK", was made by Lars Møller, presumably sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. It is rendered in graphite on paper, humble materials put to the service of representing the imposing landscape of Greenland. Look closely, and you'll notice how Møller is particularly attentive to the textures of the built environment: the stony surfaces of the dwellings, the stretched skins of the tents. Even the water is given a granular quality. With this, Møller’s drawing becomes a kind of material record. Consider the labor involved, both in the depicted community and in the creation of the image. Møller isn’t just showing us a place, but an entire system of making and living. What might seem like a simple sketch is, in fact, a complex portrait of human ingenuity and adaptation. It bridges art and craft, collapsing the distance between the act of representation and the daily work of building a life.