Description of a Girl's Dress c. 1937

Nancy Crimi made this drawing, "Description of a Girl's Dress," with graphite on paper, and you can see how the delicate marks and soft color palette give it an ethereal quality. Imagine her hand moving across the page, each line a thoughtful step in describing the dress’s construction. I can just feel Nancy Crimi puzzling over each detail, figuring out how to convey the shape and structure of this garment. She describes the "Bias Piece with Small Circling" and "Pleats Folded in Direction of Arrows", meticulously planning how it all comes together. It's a kind of slow looking which produces a very particular seeing. The drawing reminds me of other artists like Agnes Martin, whose grids and lines also possess a meditative quality. It's as if these artists are speaking to one another, and I'm listening in, picking up on this conversation that spans decades, all from the simple act of making a mark.