Sketch made on Indian Reservation c. 1890

Walter Shirlaw created this sketch on an Indian Reservation using graphite on paper. The artist, whose paintings often focused on genre and figural work, here engages with the act of fieldwork, a practice more often associated with anthropology than art. The material, graphite, is elemental carbon, but in its manufactured form as a pencil, it is a tool of precision and design. Notice how Shirlaw uses its qualities to capture a fleeting scene, rapidly and economically. He has quickly set down the details of clothing and posture with hatching and cross-hatching to create depth and shadow. The immediacy of this sketch is a document of a specific time and place. But it’s also an artifact embedded in the complex history of representation. The act of sketching itself becomes a means of claiming knowledge and control over the depicted scene, reflecting back on issues of labor, politics, and consumption. Understanding the materials, processes, and context challenges traditional distinctions between fine art and the social sciences.