Sketchbook 1946

Hans Bellmer made this graphite drawing on paper, and it’s such a suggestive image. Look how the strokes overlap and multiply in grey lines on the grid paper, it reminds me of the way thought itself spirals. I can imagine Bellmer sitting and drawing, trying to catch a feeling that’s just out of reach. Is he trying to capture something or find something? The pressure and release of his pencil on the page is clear. There's a real openness to the process, a willingness to let the drawing lead him somewhere unexpected. I think about other artists like him, and how they used drawing to explore the human form in such an expressive way. It’s interesting how the act of making art can be a conversation across time, each artist building on what came before, adding their own voice to this ongoing dialogue. The ambiguity allows us to bring our own interpretations to the work, making it a dynamic and evolving experience.