Statuette c. 1939

This watercolor statuette by Yolande Delasser is made of soft blues and creams. It depicts a bagpipe player and their dog! I like to imagine her in the studio, dabbing her brush in water, swirling it with milky pigment, and coaxing this scene out of the page. The figure emerges, through trial, error, and the pure joy of seeing something come to life. Delasser builds up the figure with layers of thin paint, a wash here, a line there. I picture her stepping back from the easel, head tilted, considering. Then she adds the royal blue flourishes, animating the whole thing! I love how art is a conversation across time. Delasser was probably looking at other paintings and objects, thinking about form and color, and adding her voice to the mix. The statuette becomes her own embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and allowing for multiple readings.