Perfume Bottle c. 1941

Curator: Let’s turn our attention to Chris Makrenos’s "Perfume Bottle," a delicate watercolor and ink drawing created around 1941. What’s your immediate reaction to it? Editor: An ethereal object suspended in time! I immediately notice the muted palette, the slightly asymmetrical form. The almost icy blue suggests purity but also perhaps a fragile composure. Curator: The choice of subject matter in the 1940s interests me—perfume bottles were potent symbols of femininity and aspiration. The wartime context adds another layer of interpretation—could this artwork signal to longings of the ‘feminine sphere’, or even simply escapism in the midst of disruption? Editor: Intriguing thought! The bulbous, almost teardrop shape evokes both preciousness and vulnerability. Historically, perfume itself was often tied to rituals, alchemy, even love potions—visualized here, it could symbolize hidden powers and untold stories. It is not accidental that fragrance is mostly memory. Curator: Precisely, but it also feels so intrinsically linked with commodification of gender roles at that time. We have to think about those complexities: whose scent it carries, which social circles its value affirmed... This can also be placed in dialogue with discussions around labor that intersects with gender in war economies. Editor: Yet, even today, that shape recalls ancient amphora and vials—containers of precious oils from biblical or classical periods. Regardless of historical intention, viewers today tap into centuries of symbolic associations just by viewing it. It’s almost like unlocking secrets embedded in visual language. Curator: I agree—this image persists, resonating across cultural shifts precisely because those narratives are malleable. It opens up a space for interpreting intersectional relations. The artwork becomes a historical mirror through which contemporary dynamics and discussions around gendered labor can also become foregrounded. Editor: Exactly! This piece distills abstract notions of time, memory and value into this one beautiful container. The way the colors layer creates something profound from a seemingly ordinary object. Curator: And through our varied approaches we come to realize how truly 'extraordinary' an image and a cultural artifact like "Perfume Bottle" becomes!