Child's Chair c. 1937

Curator: We are looking at “Child's Chair,” a pencil drawing from around 1937 by Gordena Jackson. Editor: Immediately, there's a disarming simplicity to this image. The delicate pencil work gives it a softness, an almost nostalgic feel, don't you think? Curator: Yes, I'd say that the object itself – a child's chair - is freighted with sentimentality, but beyond that, in the 1930s, particularly in the US during the Depression, furniture, even for children, represented stability. Domestic space as a safe haven. Consider also that for women especially, crafting images of domestic life provided an avenue to generate economic worth at home. Editor: I see. And structurally, note how Jackson focuses on line and shape. The geometric exactitude of the chair, the rounded finials – all rendered with subtle gradations of tone. There's a tension, isn't there, between the apparent artlessness of the amateur sketch, as the tag describes it, and the precise observation it embodies? The use of a toned paper is particularly skillful. Curator: Definitely. Looking at the work through a gendered lens we must consider who got to claim "professional" artist. In 1937, sketching domestic objects, while a valuable skill, was unlikely to garner as much attention as say, public works projects which provided opportunities primarily to male artists. Jackson may not have had access to such platforms. But a sketchbook like this represents an arena of power, a safe place where she could build an oeuvre and hone her practice. Editor: True. One could see the sketchbook as its own space, with its own set of aesthetic values and codes. Jackson might be embracing rather than shying away from that designation as a woman artist depicting her life in the home. What a fascinating paradox – a study in understated visual complexity and the complex politics of domestic life. Curator: Yes, this single object, seemingly mundane, opens onto a world of social and artistic possibilities. Editor: A silent witness, inviting a fresh look at the beauty found in quiet corners.