Puppet - "Cotton Picker" c. 1936

Editor: This is Vera Van Voris' "Puppet - 'Cotton Picker,'" created around 1936 using watercolor and drawing techniques. I'm immediately struck by the puppet's attire and the overt symbolism of forced labor implied in the title, and by how it all makes me a bit uncomfortable. What do you see in this work? Curator: The work's power lies in its direct engagement with labor and representation. Looking at the materials - the watercolor, the paper, the strings suspending the puppet – what narratives about production and consumption do they evoke for you? The artist uses inexpensive material to highlight how exploited bodies and exploited materials reinforce one another. Editor: I see what you mean about inexpensive materials reinforcing the message, but what is the artist really trying to get at? Curator: Consider the context. The 1930s was a period of widespread economic hardship, coupled with deeply ingrained racial inequalities. This object highlights those tensions by using the caricature of the black "Cotton Picker" as a symbol, laid bare for its purpose by being a "puppet". Can we ignore the racialized dynamics embedded in its making and the making of a caricature? Editor: It’s a lot to consider. It almost feels like the artist is showing the exploitation of labor and of materials, while simultaneously contributing to problematic imagery. Curator: Precisely. The materiality makes visible the connection between labor, objectification, and consumption, laying bare the complexities and contradictions of the historical moment. We’re forced to reckon with these issues head on because of the way Van Voris depicts and materializes them. Editor: It definitely gives you a lot to think about, from the context of the artwork's production, to its presentation of the subject. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure!