Cross c. 1936

Al Curry made this drawing of a cross, we don't know when. The way it’s rendered, with a kind of smoky graphite, brings a certain gravity and solemnity. It makes me think about the process of artmaking, you know, the slow buildup of marks. There’s a real sense of weight to the object itself, especially in the stone base. You can feel the pressure of the pencil on the paper, building up those dark shadows between the stones. And then, look at the details in the ironwork above, the delicate curls and the heart shape. It's like Curry is trying to balance the heaviness of the stone with the lightness of the spirit. The linear exactitude of the central motif stands in contrast to the more blurred and tonally ambiguous elements around it. It puts me in mind of the drawings of Cy Twombly, who could also create such a feeling of monumentality with just a few lines. Art is an echo chamber, always referencing and reinterpreting. Ultimately, this piece reminds us that art is not about fixed meanings but is an open ended conversation.