‘I Must’ is the third and last book in the series which began with I Wish and I Think. Flemish illustrator Ingrid Godon and Dutch author Toon Tellegen link up for the third time. She draws and he writes, but they do that without seeing or reading each other’s work. Still texts and portraits fit wonderfully together, because both strive to catch the true nature of human beings.
Ingrid Godon’s figures hark back to photos from times when you looked earnestly into the camera. The pencil lines are sharp, the charm has gone, you might say. But the loving feeling has not, as that fully informs the hesitant looks, in an awkward attitude, in the restrained colours. And in the kick given here and there by bright yellow to the sober palette. That yellow is what ‘must’ also means: starting, jerking into motion. It chases these people with their philosophical thoughts (expressed by Toon Tellegen) forward.
‘I Must’ exposes a merciless and terrible human tangle of obligations and expectations. Godon and Tellegen inspire thoughts, give a name to feeling and trigger involvement. It is a collection full of compassion, vulnerable and confrontational at the same time.
10 years +