Blomster 1909

Christian Kongstad Petersen made "Blomster" with ink on paper; a flurry of lines blooming into flowers. It's fascinating how a simple medium can be so expressive, right? Notice how Petersen uses hatching to build up tone and volume. The way the lines curve and intersect reminds me of thinking through a problem, layer by layer. There’s a real physicality to the marks; you can almost feel the scratch of the pen on paper. The darkest area, behind the upper flowers, has a chaotic energy. The paper is raw and stained which gives the flowers a delicate, ethereal quality. The flowers themselves are built up from confident looping strokes. This piece reminds me of the work of Odilon Redon. Like Redon, Petersen embraces ambiguity, inviting us to project our own feelings and associations onto the image. It’s like Petersen is saying, "Here’s a suggestion, now it’s your turn".