Studies with Central Female Face 

Editor: So, this is "Studies with Central Female Face" by John Hamilton Mortimer, a pencil drawing. There’s a central face, but also other faint figures. It feels almost like a dreamscape, or the inside of someone's head. What do you see in this piece from a formal perspective? Curator: I see a study in line and form, particularly the artist’s exploration of contour. Note the repetition of the facial features; Mortimer seems preoccupied with capturing the nuances of expression through subtle shifts in line weight and direction. Observe how the varying degrees of completion affect your reading of space, particularly with respect to depth and recession. Editor: That’s interesting, because I focused on the fragmented aspect. Do you think the unfinished quality takes away from a sense of wholeness, or does it add something? Curator: The incompletion, or what we might term the "open form", serves as an active element. It resists closure and invites the viewer to participate in the act of constructing meaning. Notice how the overlapping figures and varied line qualities establish a sense of dynamic tension. We must appreciate the inherent materiality of the pencil strokes, themselves. Do they function solely to describe, or might they suggest other potentials? Editor: I see what you mean about the tension between the completed and incomplete forms. I was so focused on the subject, I didn’t think about the role the unfinished quality plays! Curator: Indeed. By carefully studying the visual interplay between line, form and compositional structure, the formalist approach opens avenues to a deeper understanding of the artwork. Editor: This approach to close reading has revealed many of the piece’s subtleties! Thanks.