Indian Dolls 1936

Jane Iverson’s ‘Indian Dolls’ is a watercolor painting that captures two dolls adorned in vibrant Native American attire. I’m imagining Iverson gently loading her brush with pigment, coaxing the paint across the paper, building up these doll figures, one delicate layer at a time. See how she contrasts the bright reds of their cloaks with the muted browns and grays of their faces and hands. I wonder, what was Iverson thinking as she painted these figures? Was she captivated by the dolls’ intricate costumes, or was she interested in the stories they held? Look at the detail she gives to the beaded necklaces and the fringed edges of their garments. Each gesture, each dab of color feels deliberate, imbued with a sense of reverence for her subjects. I think of the watercolors of Charles Burchfield, which similarly use color and light to animate everyday scenes with emotional intensity. There is a sensitivity to Iverson’s practice, a form of embodied expression, that allows the dolls’ presence to fill the frame.