Carved Box c. 1939

Charles Garjian made this Carved Box; the medium is unknown but perhaps he used gouache, watercolor, and graphite on paper. What strikes me is how the artist has worked, I imagine, to translate the object into something else. I am thinking about how to translate something into the language of painting. It's not just about replicating what you see. Look at the way Garjian has used the medium here, it seems like the surface of the box, the physicality of the wooden material, has been built up and re-configured. The dark colours; browns and dark yellows, give a sense of age. Imagine running your fingers over the surface, feeling all those textures. It makes me think of someone like Mike Kelley, and how he made art using things that were around him. It's an open conversation across art history. This box is simple, yet there are multiple interpretations to be had here.