Comb c. 1939

Hester Duany made this drawing of a comb sometime in the middle of the last century, using watercolor and graphite on paper. It’s the earthy palette that really grabs me. These sepias and ochres feel so organic, like looking at something grown rather than made. The paint seems almost translucent in places, letting the paper breathe through, while elsewhere, thicker strokes define the floral motifs at the top of the comb. Look how those tiny lines vibrate! And then there are those teeth at the bottom – so simple, and yet they give the whole thing its structure, its purpose. It’s this play between surface and depth, form and function, that makes the artwork so compelling. Like the work of Forrest Bess, the deceptively simple presentation of an everyday object belies a complex layering of meaning.