Prentbriefkaart aan Philip Zilcken before 1908

Cecilia de Madrazo made this postcard to Philip Zilcken with ink and paper, sometime around the turn of the century. Just look at that handwriting; the loops and swirls of the letters feel both intimate and formal. For me, it’s like a dance, the ink gliding across the surface, leaving a trace of thought and feeling. The surface is a collage of textures and layers, stamps, postmarks, and handwritten script all competing for attention. Notice how the ink is sometimes thick and dark, and other times, thin and faded. Those heavy horizontal lines obliterating the text are particularly striking – a moment of erasure, of hiding and revealing. It makes you wonder what secrets the postcard holds, what stories it could tell if only we could decipher its hidden messages. This piece reminds me a little of Cy Twombly’s scribbled canvases. Both artists embrace imperfection, leaving the traces of their process visible for all to see. For me, art is an ongoing conversation, an exchange of ideas across time and space. It invites us to look, to feel, and to think in new and unexpected ways.