Hat c. 1936

This drawing, “Hat,” was made by Mae A. Clarke, and it’s all about the art of looking, and the art of making. The first thing that strikes me is the line, so spare and elegant, describing these hats. Look how Clarke uses the bare minimum of marks to suggest form, texture, and even the way light might play on the ribbon. It’s like she’s saying, “Here’s a hat, but also, here’s the essence of hat-ness.” There's a real sense of care in each line, a kind of devotion to the subject. It makes me think about how, as artists, we’re always trying to capture something that’s both there and not there, present and absent all at once. This drawing reminds me a little of Agnes Martin’s work, or maybe even some of the early minimalist sculptors. They were all wrestling with similar ideas about reduction and essence. It’s this ongoing conversation between artists, across time and space. It shows that there’s no one “right” way to see, or to make.