Scissors c. 1936

Here's a drawing of scissors, we don't know when it was made, by Roberta Elvis. This watercolor has a delicate palette of greys and creams, with a little diagram in the corner, like an architect’s rendering. What can be so interesting about scissors? They are so ordinary. But Roberta Elvis shows us the beauty of function. We are invited to consider these utilitarian objects as sculptural forms with negative space. I feel like Elvis is saying that nothing is too small or too insignificant to be looked at. The artist turns something we take for granted into something worth contemplating. It reminds me of the work of other artists like Vija Celmins, who invites us to consider the potential for seeing the extraordinary within the ordinary. In this way, Roberta Elvis suggests that art can be found in everyday experiences. We must only pause and be open to new perspectives.