Carved Statue of the Virgin Mary c. 1939

This is Vera Van Voris's "Carved Statue of the Virgin Mary," a drawing of a sculpture made from, well, I can only guess. The colour palette is fascinating: a range of greys, browns, and creams that create a sense of depth and texture. You can almost feel the grain of the wood and the rough edges of the carving. Looking at this piece, I'm drawn to the texture. It's so tactile; you can almost feel the rough, uneven surface of the wood. The artist's process is visible in every stroke and mark. It's like she's inviting us to witness the act of creation itself. See that mark on the bottom left? It’s almost like a signature. It might not be there, but it represents the sculptor's hand. It makes me think of Guston's late work, where he embraced a kind of raw, unfiltered honesty in his paintings. The conversation between artists never ends, and Vera Van Voris is very much a part of it.