Altar for Chinese Temple c. 1939

Vera Van Voris made this artwork of an altar for a Chinese temple with what looks like watercolor or gouache, but that description doesn’t quite capture it—the colors are muted and chalky and a little strange. I can feel how carefully she’s observed the object, looking so closely that she’s almost caressing it. I wonder if she was thinking about what an altar means, not just as a design object, but as a place for ritual and meditation. I’m interested in that dark shape between the doors. It feels like a void, or maybe an opening into another dimension. It makes me think about how abstract shapes can suggest a whole world. The light, the textures, the forms—everything feels so precise. She’s really tuned into this thing. It reminds me of the work of Agnes Martin, who also found a kind of quiet intensity in simple geometric forms. I guess that’s why I like painting so much, it’s a way of slowing down and really looking.