Silver Fork (Rogers Silverware) c. 1936

Ludmilla Calderon made this drawing, "Silver Fork (Rogers Silverware)," with a pencil, probably sitting at her desk. I imagine her, almost like a surveyor, carefully mapping the shapes of this everyday object. You can see the faint lines where she worked out the proportions, like she's trying to understand its very essence. I can imagine the artist thinking, is it about utility, a symbol of domesticity, or something else entirely? The subtle shading transforms the flat page into a three-dimensional space. It's interesting that there are other sketches too, like notes, testing out shapes and details. Calderon's work reminds me of artists like Giorgio Morandi, who found endless inspiration in simple things. It's like she's asking us to really see the beauty in the mundane.