Lantern 1935 - 1942

Edith Magnette drew this "Lantern" with what looks like graphite pencil on paper. I’m thinking about the artist’s hand moving across the surface, patiently rendering the subtle gradients of light and shadow. The graphite is soft and smudgy in places, a testament to the artist's touch and presence. You can imagine her focusing intently, really looking, as she observes the play of light and shadow on the lantern's surface. What might she have been thinking about as she drew? Was she contemplating the function of the lantern? Or was she thinking about the beauty of the object itself? The artist is participating in a conversation with other artists, using their work as a point of departure for their own explorations. And in that way, art becomes a form of embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, and allowing for multiple interpretations and meaning.