Flat Iron Holder c. 1938

Jack Staloff made this drawing of a flat iron holder. It's a detailed rendering, all in graphite pencil. I'm immediately struck by the artist's attentiveness. I imagine Staloff, squinting, carefully measuring and translating the object's form onto paper. What must it have been like to spend so much time in close observation of this one thing? The drawing itself becomes a kind of meditation, a slow, deliberate act of seeing and recording. It makes me think about the tradition of technical drawing, but also the way that everyday objects can become imbued with meaning through artistic attention. It almost doesn't matter what the subject is; it's the process of looking, understanding, and re-presenting that holds the key to Staloff's world.