Wooden Ladle c. 1937

Curator: My first thought: solitude. It’s strange, isn't it, how an object can conjure such stillness? Editor: Indeed. We're looking at "Wooden Ladle," a watercolour work by Majel G. Claflin, created around 1937. There's something deceptively simple about it. Curator: Deceptively is key! There’s an honesty in its plainness. It speaks to craft and perhaps to the everyday lives of women, who traditionally prepared and served food in their households. Editor: Exactly. This piece can be examined through a feminist lens, exploring the historical division of labour and the societal devaluation of domestic work, and even today gender disparity shapes not just kitchens but entire agricultural systems. It makes me consider labor relations, family dynamics, the economy... Curator: You’re pulling out these grand narratives and it reminds me of something my grandmother once said: "Everything important happens in the kitchen." Silly, maybe. But maybe this humble ladle is the perfect portal into those broader contexts you're drawing. Editor: A humble portal, I love that! Considering the context of the 1930s, a period marked by economic depression, this piece might also represent a longing for simpler times, a reliance on essential tools and handcrafted items over mass-produced goods. Curator: The watercolor medium itself lends a soft, almost nostalgic quality to the scene. I also think it’s a quiet celebration of organic form. Even though this is technically realism, to me it flirts with something a little more surreal and elemental, like a found fossil, unearthed and now imbued with new life. Editor: And that makes the piece incredibly effective in connecting to ideas of the domestic sphere but it is just one representation, shaped, even informed by a singular view of the domestic space and perhaps the position the artist occupies inside of it. We can unpack many aspects from such depictions to consider who benefits and loses through their continued promotion. Curator: You’ve cracked it open for me! Thanks for giving it new flavors and nuances. Editor: And thank you, that consideration on how materials impact our reading provides context too. It is an ongoing effort to decode the embedded power dynamics in every piece.