Comb c. 1940

Irene Lawson made this drawing of a comb, we don't know exactly when, but it is rendered in pencil and watercolor. It’s just a simple comb, and it makes you wonder, what was she thinking? Why a comb? The coloring is subdued, mostly browns and creams, and there is an extraordinary feeling of stillness. I imagine her concentrating on this everyday object, trying to find its essence, trying to capture something about its form. She sees the world through shapes and colours, and like Morandi, she just wants to keep things simple. I love the fact that artists, like Irene, dedicate their lives to understanding things. And in the end, she’s not just drawing a comb, she’s drawing an idea, or a feeling, or an attempt to understand the world. It's about trying to understand how all these things connect to each other across time.