Bonnet c. 1940

Nancy Crimi made this work, Bonnet, with watercolor, pen, and graphite. Look at the colour and the way she lets the light pass through! Crimi's soft, transparent washes are really something. The way she suggests the form of the bonnet without ever quite defining it, allowing the white of the paper to peek through. This speaks to me about artmaking as a process. Now, let's talk about the bow! It's almost ghostly, isn't it? Crimi has captured the way light dances on fabric, the subtle shifts in tone that create the illusion of volume. If you look closely, you can see the delicate pen lines that define the edges of the lace and the petals of the flowers. The textures and colours create an emotional experience for us; the bonnet feels almost like a memory. This piece reminds me of the work of someone like Agnes Martin, in the way she uses subtle colour and delicate lines to create a feeling of quiet contemplation. It’s interesting to me that art invites so many interpretations.