Quaker Dress c. 1936

Roberta Spicer made this drawing of a "Quaker Dress" on paper. I'm thinking about Roberta, born in 1855, making this drawing. Was this her dress? What did it mean to her? Was it a memory, a symbol of a time gone by? I find something deeply moving in the way the pencil gently caresses the page. I can imagine her hand moving softly and deliberately, each line a whisper of feeling and remembrance. The delicacy of the drawing reminds me of Agnes Martin, who could achieve so much with so little, creating these expansive, subtle worlds that draw you in. It’s a way of seeing and thinking that transcends time. Spicer invites us to contemplate the quiet stories embedded in the clothes we wear.