Description
Solo is part of a series in which Eva Margaretha searches for who her grandmother was before arriving in the Netherlands. In a small number of preserved childhood photographs, a girl appears who already seems independent and strong. During the Japanese occupation, she fled on foot from Sumatra to Java and, at the age of twelve, ended up in an internment camp, where she took care of her younger brothers and sisters.
The work is based on a single image: a child, alone. The title refers both to a place on Java and to a state of being. Margaretha connects this personal point of departure to a broader history of children shaped by colonial structures, war, and systems of care. With this portrait, she brings children who long remained in the shadows back into the light; not as victims, but as carriers of resilience. The image echoes beyond its time and remains present in how we look at children today.
Solo is presented in a heavy, rustic, hand-built wooden frame that forms an integral part of the work itself. The frame is not a neutral support, but a constructed boundary that reinforces the weight and authority of the word it holds. As a self-contained object, the work occupies the space with physical presence, echoing the historical structures embedded in language.
Artwork size approx. 140 × 160 cm
Framed size approx. 150 × 170 cm
Charcoal, India ink, bistre, gesso and oilstick on canvas
The artworks are part of the solo exhibition by Eva Margaretha at Galerie Wind, Rotterdam, from 15 February to 15 March. Opening: 15 February at 3 pm. The works will be available after the exhibition.
