Dress 1935 - 1942

Mary Berner made this drawing of a dress, we don’t know when, using pencil and coloured pencil. Looking at this piece, I am immediately struck by its tenderness, like a memory hanging on by a thread. There's something so delicate about the way the colours are laid down, not quite solid, but building up layers of tone and texture. See how the plaid shimmers on the skirt? It's as if Berner is trying to capture the way light dances on fabric. And the lace collar, with its intricate details, feels both fragile and precious. I love the way she’s included a simplified schematic drawing of the dress to the right, as if it is a ghost floating next to the ‘real’ thing. This piece reminds me a bit of outsider artists like Henry Darger, who also created these incredibly detailed, otherworldly scenes. It's like Berner is inviting us into her own private world, where beauty and imagination reign supreme. In the end, it’s the intimacy and vulnerability of this piece that really get to me.