Wash-stand c. 1937

Edna Rex’s wash-stand is made with watercolor, a portable medium for a time before selfies and ‘pics or it didn’t happen’. I love the way she's used the watercolor here, layering transparent washes to build up the form of the wooden stand, so precise, almost technical. The blue of the china contrasts with this rigidity, softened with playful gestures suggesting a pastoral scene. Look closely, and you can see how the grain of the wood comes through, a natural pattern enhanced by the artist's deliberate strokes. This attention to detail, almost obsessive, makes me think of Agnes Martin. Both artists share a commitment to the handmade, even in their most minimal works, and invite us to slow down and appreciate the subtle nuances of color, texture, and form. But where Martin aims for a kind of transcendence, Rex remains grounded in the everyday, finding beauty in the simplest of objects. In art, as in life, it's often the small things that matter most.