Carved Cat Head Gargoyle c. 1936

This is Alton K. Skillin’s ‘Carved Cat Head Gargoyle’, made in pencil on paper. Skillin’s a folk artist and something of a polymath – he was a pattern maker for industrial foundries, but he also did carpentry, carving, and drawing. Here, the cross-hatching gives the impression of light hitting carved wood or stone. It feels solid, like it has weight. Look closely and you’ll see the artist has let the pencil lines show, so it's about the drawing as much as the object. The cat is looking up and to the left, with these big cartoonish eyes that are quite beguiling. There's something archaic about it, a bit Egyptian, I think. It reminds me of Red Grooms’ sculptural cartoons. And like his work, this piece is both humorous and deeply skillful. A reminder that art can be serious and playful at the same time.