Jug c. 1937

Curator: Yolande Delasser created this compelling drawing titled "Jug" around 1937, rendering the still-life elements on paper in ink. Editor: Right, that blue is striking against the brown. There's a curious sense of something both homey and removed. Curator: Definitely, and that tension interests me. The jug itself appears almost ghostly, a mere outline, compared to the darker, decorative elements. Is it an imagined ornament or lived memory? Editor: Perhaps it’s the ghost of domesticity. A critique of imposed traditional gender roles depicted with some funky floral art that just won't sit still. It dances off the paper. Curator: I think it invites considerations of the societal pressures faced by women artists in the interwar period. Did embracing, escaping, or subverting the domestic sphere influence their self-expression? Delasser doesn’t just represent, but perhaps dissects the traditional still life, using it as a stage. Editor: Yes! It makes me think about all those other jug and flower paintings and the women that might have had to repress something or swallow a sharp word at the table, holding them up to the light so that everyone can see them as useful members of society and no one gets the joke, see? This jug may very well be subversive…I wonder what was held in it! Curator: An intriguing thought! And I love how this piece encourages viewers to reimagine these quiet everyday moments. The very simple materials lend themselves to these complex stories and meanings, layering personal experiences with shared history. Editor: I know! Now when I see a still life of vessels and whatnot, I am going to think about a whole chorus line of dancing feminist ghosts, for sure.