Castor Oil Plant 1927

Wanda Gág made this drawing of a Castor Oil Plant with crayon on paper. It's all about the layering of color. Look at how she's built up this image through these almost scribbly marks, allowing different colors to peek through. There’s something about the physical quality of the crayon – its waxy surface, its potential for smudging – that brings a tactile, almost childlike quality to the work. You can almost feel the pressure of Gág's hand as she built up these forms. See how the dark blue in the leaves gives way to the yellow, creating a sense of volume and depth, even though the color is fairly flat. That waxy sheen catches the light in a cool way. Gág's work reminds me of Marsden Hartley, especially the way both artists imbue their subjects with a kind of mystical energy. It’s this feeling that art is not just about depicting reality, but about capturing something deeper, something felt. Art is a conversation across time, a way of seeing and experiencing the world anew.