Boy's Suit c. 1937

Jessie Benge created this drawing of a boy’s suit, in a muted palette. It’s like she mixed all her colours together before she started! The colour is quite something – a kind of flat, sandy colour, that might be the colour of the cloth, or just the colour of the paper coming through. There’s no real texture; everything is smooth and even. It feels like a plan, or the idea of a thing. Look closely at the lines, how they describe the form without ever really committing to it. They’re tentative, like the thing itself might change at any moment, or only exists in the imagination. I love that little drawing in the corner; it reminds me of the kinds of notes artists will make to themselves in the margins. Like she was thinking out loud. It puts me in mind of Eva Hesse's sculptures, where the process is always visible, and nothing is ever really finished. It’s like she's showing us her working. And like Hesse, Benge helps us to see that art is an ongoing conversation.