Sunday's Ladles 1962

Wesley Chamberlin created this print, "Sunday's Ladles", sometime between 1940 and 1990, presenting us with two ladles rendered in stark black and white. These humble kitchen tools, elevated to the subject of art, speak volumes about sustenance, tradition, and the cycles of domestic life. The ladle, a vessel for nourishment, is an ancient symbol. Think of the cornucopia, overflowing with abundance, or the Holy Grail, a chalice of spiritual sustenance. Chamberlin’s ladles, though, are more grounded. They evoke the everyday ritual of feeding, of nurturing. The circular shape of each ladle, full of dark matter, echoes images of the womb, of the earth, of the cyclical nature of life itself. We see in these forms the unending promise of the harvest, of the meal to come. In viewing this print, we confront the cyclical recurrence of imagery. It’s a powerful reminder of how images persist, evolve, and re-emerge in our collective consciousness.