Nadége Picq 2013

Gazmend Freitag made this artwork, Nadége Picq, with pencil on paper. Look at how the blue pencil marks evoke a sense of calm. I wonder if Freitag worked from a photograph, or had Nadége in the studio? Whatever the method, I'm struck by a provisional quality to the work. The lines shift and merge, as if the artist is constantly refining their impression. There’s something both fleeting and immediate in the way that Freitag has captured Nadége’s likeness. Note how the weight of the pencil line shifts, thick and thin, describing the contours of her face. The artist coaxes out the form with these sensitive lines, which is a very different feel from, say, a bold, graphic painting. This drawing has a quiet, almost shy, sensibility. It reminds us that every artist is in dialogue with those who came before, trying to capture something essential about what it means to be human.