Vrouw en kind bij een boom 1912 - 1913

Carolina (Loentje) Frederika Onnen made this photograph, Vrouw en kind bij een boom, with a camera. It’s a scene drenched in sepia, giving it that dreamy, slightly out-of-time feeling. The way the light filters through the leaves, blurring the edges of the figures, hints at the artist's interest in the play between clarity and obscurity. The woman stands with her hand on the tree, is she supporting herself, or hugging the tree? She looks to me as though she is somehow tethered to the earth. I am reminded a little of Hilma af Klint's interest in esoteric explorations, even though her abstract paintings are on the face of it very different. Both artists seem interested in forces beyond the immediately visible. What I love about art is its ability to hold multiple truths, to suggest rather than dictate, to allow us to bring our own experiences and interpretations to the table.