Branding Iron c. 1942

Elizabeth Johnson made this drawing of a branding iron, and another version of its shape, using watercolor. Look how she allows the color to bleed and bloom – a process-based approach which, for me, makes the drawing feel more alive. The physical qualities of the watercolor in this piece speak softly. It's translucent in areas and elsewhere built up through thin layers of pigment. I love the area where the metal part of the iron meets the handle, see how the colors run together like a bruise? It’s a very sensual thing to capture something so functional in such a delicate way. And the ghost shape of the brand itself, rendered in this soft pinkish outline – it’s like a memory or an echo of the real thing. It reminds me a little of some of Vija Celmins' drawings, just in the way she elevates a common object into something monumental through close observation. Ultimately, art is about seeing the world in new ways. And Johnson’s drawing allows us to see the beauty and the brutality in this simple tool.