Staande en zittende naakte vrouw aan de rand van een bos 1883 - 1922

Here’s a quick sketch of two naked women by Johanna van de Kamer, standing and sitting at the edge of a forest – or maybe reclining? It’s hard to tell for sure, and that’s part of what I like about it. The pencil lines are delicate and quick, as though she’s trying to catch a fleeting moment. Look at the way the bodies are formed with just a few strokes, a kind of shorthand for form. It reminds me that artmaking is always a process of selection and reduction, distilling the world down to its essence. I am drawn to the ambiguity of the space. Is it a forest, or just a suggestion of one? The way the figures blend into the background makes me think of Vuillard, how he merged figures with their domestic environments. It is a kind of visual puzzle, one that invites us to participate in the act of seeing, questioning what we see and how we see it. And ultimately, the most exciting art always leaves room for questions, right?