Vase c. 1937

Janet Riza made this drawing of a vase on paper, and it's this single purple hue that really grabs you, isn't it? Like she just wanted to bathe the whole thing in this one color and see what happens. It reminds me of my own process – you start with something simple and see where it goes. The thing about this vase is the way the purple kinda vibrates off the page, especially where it's darker, like in the base. You can almost feel the pressure of the pencil or whatever she used. And then, the light reflecting off the curves, suggesting depth. It's all there in that one color! It reminds me a little of Morandi, with his bottles, but more intense. With Morandi, there’s a quiet, meditative feeling, and with Riza, it's like she's trying to unlock the secret of this vase with just one color. Like she's daring us to see how much you can do with simplicity.