Vogel before 1942

This is Reijer Stolk’s ‘Vogel’, a small woodcut print made in an unknown year, playing with simple colour and line. It's like Stolk is thinking through making, letting the tools guide the way. The colours are pretty basic, brown and blue with a white paper peeking through. The brown feels warm, earthy, and the blue adds a bit of fanciness. I love the little white dots, like scattered thoughts that connect everything. The texture of the woodcut is visible, not trying to hide the process. Look at the head of the bird. It has this funky, almost architectural shape, a bunch of curves and edges all piled up, kinda like a totem. It’s like Stolk is showing us that art can be serious and playful at the same time. It makes me think of Hilma af Klint - both of them making images of things that aren't quite real, more like symbols.