Wedding Dress 1940

Mary E. Humes made this drawing of a wedding dress, with what looks like pencil, on paper. You can see the process in the lines, how they build up and define the form. It's like watching a thought take shape. The dress is all in outline, so the surface of the paper becomes the fabric. It makes you think about what's there and what isn't, about presence and absence. I keep coming back to those vertical ruffles down the front. There’s a certain awkwardness, or stiffness to them, and yet they give the dress its character. The way they are drawn, slightly uneven and a little hesitant, makes it feel really personal, like you are seeing something intimate. Humes reminds me of Bill Traylor, in the way she brings a kind of directness and honesty to her work. It’s about embracing the imperfections, the little quirks that make a piece unique. It's a reminder that art is a conversation, not a monologue, full of possibilities.