Zeemeeuwen bij het water 1881 - 1949

This etching of seagulls by Lucie van Dam van Isselt is all about line and movement. The composition has come into being with delicate marks, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Lucie and imagine what it might have been like to create this small world! She’s using a sparse palette of gray and white, enlivened with touches of pink. She is carving lines on a plate, the way you would carve thoughts into your brain. The scene is a moment of action, birds in flight, with a skyline fading into mist behind. The birds are rendered with a beautiful economy of line, their wings outstretched, capturing their essence. It reminds me of Whistler's etchings. Artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. It is a form of embodied expression which embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.