Uitnodiging aan Philip Zilcken 1928

This invitation to Philip Zilcken, made anonymously in February 1928, feels like a peek into a different world. The way the ink bleeds and pools, and the handwriting loops and swoops, makes me think about how each word was carefully formed, a dance of intention and chance. I imagine the artist hunched over a desk, quill in hand, the nib scratching across the paper. What were they thinking about as they wrote this invitation? Were they excited about the upcoming Illumination? Were they worried about the weather? Did they even know that a hundred years later we would still be looking at this invitation? The paper itself is a character here. It’s aged and worn, with a story of its own. What if I responded to this invitation by making a drawing? I'd use ink, of course, to echo that handwritten feel. It is a reminder that artists are always in conversation. We borrow, steal, and transform, building on what came before.