Billethead c. 1936

Lucille Chabot made this Billethead out of watercolor, graphite, and colored pencil on paper. Look at that billeted head, all decorative and scroll-y, so reminiscent of folk art. You can almost feel Chabot’s hand moving across the paper, carefully mapping out each curve and flourish. I imagine her, really taking her time, trying to figure out the light as it glanced off the original object. What’s so great about this, is how it is both abstract and representative. It’s like she’s in a conversation with all the artists who have ever tried to capture three dimensions on a flat surface, thinking about line, and form. It takes on the quality of a drawing of the original that is now a totally new drawing, you know? It’s a reminder that making art is always a process of translation, of trying to make sense of the world through marks and colors.