Nienke Hartog (Groningen 1976)

As soon as I start drawing, I whisper to the canvas, 'Come on, just tell me.'

I have no preconceived plan; I feel the surface in search.

I draw, listen, record, react, and look. Or perhaps I don't look at all.

It is very physical. I work with sighs, scraping, and breathing. My own hand makes movements that often precede conscious awareness.

The charcoal traces the tracks of my search. They form narrative lines of thoughts and memories that remain present in the background. This helps me discover new imaginings in subsequent layers. I can get lost, search, and encounter within these narratives: body shapes, hands, movements. I follow a leg, caress the curve of a muscle with chalk, see a clear face. A life.

I see you, I see myself—or is it our humanity? Is it our unease, our remorse, our trust?

What do you see?

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I draw solely from imagination and memory. I live and work in Apeldoorn.