Figurkomposition 1903 - 1904

Karl Isakson made this graphite drawing on paper and it’s all about these figures emerging from a sea of grey marks. I can imagine Isakson in the studio, charcoal in hand, head cocked, deciding where to put the next mark. It’s as if he’s trying to figure something out, like he’s conducting an experiment, allowing the image to come into being through layers of touch and erasure. Look at the head of the figure on the left. See how he has gone over that area again and again. The build-up of charcoal is like a dense thicket. It makes me think of other artists like Paula Modersohn-Becker, who were also trying to find a new way to represent the figure. The act of drawing becomes a process of feeling and thinking through the body. It’s about being in dialogue with other artists, across time, and finding one's own voice through a process of shared discovery.