Pink 1609 - 1686

Dirk Eversen Lons etched this depiction of a ‘Pinek ofte Zeeboor’ – a pink, or seagoing vessel – sometime in the 17th century. The vessel motif, laden with symbolism, is a cultural constant, bobbing up and down through the currents of human history. Consider the ship as a symbol for a journey. From the mythical ships of the dead in ancient Egypt to the ships navigating the underworld in the sagas of the North, the vessel bridges the known and the unknown, life and death, reality and the subconscious. The psychological weight of a ship at sea also speaks to our deepest anxieties. It is a potent symbol, capable of stirring our collective memories and fears linked to navigation and exploration. It speaks of both hope and the terror of the vast unknown. This recurring visual motif in art and culture is not linear but cyclical, its forms evolving and adapting, yet its symbolic core persists. The ship sailing on remains an eternal image, freighted with our deepest hopes and fears.