Navajo Yei Bo Chi 1932

Helen Farr Sloan made this drawing, Navajo Yei Bo Chi, using graphite. Look at the somber gray tones, achieved through delicate, repetitive marks. I think the artist made this through patient looking and application. I wonder what it was like to sit there and slowly build up the tonality using a pencil... The figures and their masks almost disappear into the background, a kind of metaphor for the mysteries of ritual. What might Sloan have been thinking? Perhaps she was trying to understand these figures, capture their likeness in a way that honors their spirit. It's hard to say, but that is what I get from this drawing. There is a shared curiosity and passion that connects artists across different times and cultures. I guess that is why artists keep drawing and painting...