Bonnet c. 1937

Sara Garfinkel made this watercolor painting of a bonnet; it’s a humble, earthy color study. She’s built up the form using only thin washes of sepia ink, each layer defining the folds and curves of the fabric. Look at the way she’s rendered the ruffles, individual marks coalesce to suggest texture and light, the whole image feels delicate and precise. The transparency of the watercolor gives a luminous quality, like seeing the object through a veil. The thinness of the washes also reflects the quiet, contemplative nature of the work. It makes me think of Agnes Martin, and her delicate grid paintings. Garfinkel has a similarly reduced and repetitive approach, she coaxes a quiet beauty from the ordinary. This is how Garfinkel asks us to see, think, and experience the world around her. It’s about finding the extraordinary in the everyday.