Cabinet 1935 - 1942

Grace Thomas made this Cabinet in Santa Fe, using what looks like watercolor on paper. The way the wood grain is suggested, with those delicate brown washes, makes me think about how we perceive age and wear in objects, and how Thomas has turned this into a tender kind of mark-making. The colors are mostly earth tones, browns and tans, giving it a sense of warmth. The paint is applied thinly, allowing the texture of the paper to show through in places. I keep coming back to the bottom drawer: it’s a little rougher, a little more worn than the others. There's a kind of wabi-sabi appreciation of imperfection here, a recognition of beauty in the everyday. Thinking about the way Thomas has chosen to represent this functional object reminds me a bit of Charles Sheeler's more graphic approach to depicting American vernacular architecture. I'm interested in how both artists take something seemingly ordinary and elevate it to a level of contemplation, prompting us to consider the stories embedded in our surroundings.