Table 1935 - 1942

Editor: This is Edna Rex’s “Table,” made sometime between 1935 and 1942, using watercolor and colored pencils. It’s so simple, but there's something kind of lonely about this lone table. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The singularity is striking, isn't it? Focusing solely on a single, rather humble object pulls it out of the domestic narrative. This allows us to reflect on what a table *means*. Historically, the table is a symbol of gathering, sustenance, communion – a site of shared experience. Editor: So the absence of that...sharing... that community aspect, contributes to that lonely feeling? Curator: Precisely. Think about what *isn't* shown. No food, no people, just this lone object rendered with precision. What emotional residue clings to the image in its solitude? This echoes wider themes from that era. The Depression left many feeling isolated, struggling. Editor: So the drawing, maybe unintentionally, becomes about loss? And I'm also curious, with it being watercolor and colored pencil, would that mean this might have been meant more as a study than a final piece? Curator: Potentially. The combination lends itself to detailed observation, almost scientific documentation. But even in documentation, symbolism persists. The deliberate act of choosing *this* table to meticulously record transforms the mundane into something more profound. Do you find the medium affects how you interpret the imagery itself? Editor: It does now! Thinking of it as documentation makes me consider the table itself almost as an artifact, and that draws out that lonely feeling. Like it’s a specimen, the last of its kind almost. Thanks! Curator: It is through thoughtful questions such as these that objects whisper their forgotten histories. Thank you for considering such a complex web of possible readings.