Basket 1935 - 1942

Mary Berner made this drawing of a basket, in pencil and watercolour. Just look at the approach to mark making! It’s a world of tiny impressions, a process of layering and building. The basket is rendered with such detail, you can almost feel the texture of the woven material. Berner's use of colour is subtle, mostly earth tones with these tiny touches of blue to highlight the decorative aspects of the basket. Look at how these small areas of blue draw your eye in. The additional fragment of design in the top left corner suggests that Berner was interested in design, and the relationship between geometric pattern and the three-dimensional form of the basket itself. I’m reminded of the work of artists like Alfred Jensen, who combined geometric forms with colour in intricate systems. Mary Berner’s work also embraces ambiguity and multiple interpretations.