Build Your Own World. So Fast Will Disagreeable Things...Vanish (Illustration for Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Nature") 1830 - 1892

This drawing by Christopher Pearse Cranch illustrates a line from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Nature,” and was made with pen and ink on paper. The nature of pen and ink as a medium allowed Cranch to easily create and reproduce images, contributing to the democratization of art in the 19th century. His choice of a humble material and a relatively simple production process has imbued the artwork with a sense of immediacy and accessibility. Cranch's artistic practice was deeply intertwined with the social and cultural context of his time. As an illustrator, he engaged with the literary and intellectual movements of his day, using his artistic skills to interpret and disseminate ideas to a wider audience. The presence of Emerson in the drawing invites questions about labor, politics, and consumption. Cranch seems to be making a point about our relationship with nature, using the ease of pen and ink to literally draw a new world into being. Ultimately, “Build Your Own World” challenges traditional distinctions between fine art and craft, inviting us to reconsider the relationship between materials, making, and meaning.