Untitled 1970

This playful construction was made by Betty Parsons with found pieces of wood, paint, and nails. Imagine Betty finding these blocks of wood and deciding to create a sculpture; it's like seeing the world with the eyes of a child. I can imagine her picking up each block and turning it over in her hands, considering the textures and colours, deciding how to arrange them into a balanced composition. The stripes of colour applied to the weathered wood add a graphic, playful quality to the work. What’s great is that it's not quite painting, not quite sculpture. It's a little bit of both. This kind of experimentation is important because artists are always talking to each other, responding to one another's work, and inspiring new ways of seeing and making. Through this ongoing exchange, artists push the boundaries of what art can be.