Bakkum, duinlandschap Possibly 2009

Dirck Nab made this drawing of a dune landscape in Bakkum with pencil, or maybe charcoal, on paper. You can tell it’s all about the process: the mark making, the layering of line, the way one thing seems to suggest another. It's interesting to consider Nab's choice to render the scene in such a minimal way. The texture of the paper, that off-white, sandy tone, is as much a part of the landscape as the drawn lines. Those lines are so tentative, so fragile. It feels like the dunes could shift and change at any moment. Look how the darkest marks, those confident lines at the top, give way to fainter, more hesitant strokes as the landscape recedes. Nab’s drawing feels like a conversation with artists like Agnes Martin, who also found profound beauty in simplicity and repetition. Ultimately, this drawing invites us to embrace ambiguity and find our own meaning within its delicate lines.