Cabinet c. 1940

This drawing of a cabinet was made by Harry Mann Waddell, though we don't know exactly when. What strikes me is the slow, considered process of its making. The surface is built up with gentle marks to describe a complex form. There's a real sense of the materiality of the wood coming through, but it's all just ink on paper. Look closely at the way Waddell renders the grain – each stroke seems to follow the contours of the wood, giving it a tactile quality. The color is warm, inviting, almost like a memory of furniture, filtered through time. I think of Agnes Martin's drawings, the way she uses subtle variations in line and tone to create a sense of depth and space. Both artists remind us that art is an ongoing conversation, a process of exchange and discovery that embraces ambiguity and multiple interpretations over fixed meanings.