Pa. German Dish c. 1937

William L. Antrim made this ‘Pa. German Dish’, and although undated, the squiggles and blobs of the design give me a sense of art being a real process of working things out. The way the black paint has been layered on thick in some places and thin in others makes me think about the materiality of painting. There's something beautifully awkward about the slightly wonky circle and the uneven lines. It feels very human. The dark, almost brooding, background is interrupted by these lighter, worm-like shapes that crawl across the surface, reminding me of Cy Twombly’s work. There's a sense of playfulness here, a willingness to let the hand lead the way. It's a reminder that art doesn't always have to be perfect or precise, it can be messy and full of happy accidents. For me, it’s in this space of ambiguity and improvisation where things get interesting.