Rat Trap c. 1938

Henry Waldeck made this "Rat Trap" drawing with watercolor and graphite, giving it a kind of ghostly reality. It's brown, beige, and has the feeling of bare wood. I love how Waldeck includes a kind of technical drawing, as if it were a diagram. The overall effect is one of lightness. I can imagine him, patiently layering washes of watercolor to depict the textures and the subtle play of light on the wood. Did he build the trap first? You have to wonder what it might have been like to create something to kill something else. I wonder if other artists have created rat traps, perhaps Rauschenberg, maybe Kienholz. The pencil lines showing how the whole thing fits together offer a glimpse into the artist's mind. And that ghostlike quality reminds me of my own work. Anyway, that’s the story that emerged for me.