Brief aan Philip Zilcken 1911 - 1930

This letter, titled "Brief aan Philip Zilcken," was written by Rose Imel, though we don’t know exactly when. Looking at it, I imagine Imel’s hand moving across the paper, the pen dancing and pressing, leaving behind trails of dark ink. It’s a lovely shade of blue, isn’t it? Almost purple. I wonder about Imel and the recipient, Philip Zilcken. What were they to each other? As I look closely at the image, I imagine Imel sitting at a desk, perhaps in a cozy room filled with books and art supplies. She pauses, mid-sentence, thinking about just the right words to convey her thoughts and feelings. There’s a real intimacy to the act of handwriting a letter, a connection that transcends time and space. The artist seems to be in an open dialogue with her world, transcribing observations, memories, and emotions through the embodied practice of writing. You could say that art-making is a form of conversation, one continuous exchange of ideas that extends across generations.