Sheraton Wall Table c. 1937

This is Ernest A. Towers Jr.’s ‘Sheraton Wall Table’, made with pen and watercolour. You can see how Towers uses the watercolour to mimic the look of wood. It reminds us that artmaking is an act of imitation and translation, not replication. The texture in this piece is mostly on the surface, there’s a feeling that the colour is embedded in the paper. The wood grain is clearly visible, and the artist uses this element to create the illusion of depth, making the wood surface seem even more real. My eye is drawn to the careful, almost tentative, way the artist has drawn the legs of the table, with their delicate fluting. It makes me think of other artists, like Vija Celmins who uses graphite to create almost photographic drawings, who are obsessed with the process of looking and translating, rather than simply representing. This piece shows us that art is an ongoing conversation across time, embracing multiple interpretations.