Handle c. 1938

John Garay made this drawing of a handle, we don't know when, using graphite on paper. It looks like he's thinking about shape, proportion, and form. I'm imagining Garay's process here: the graphite feels smudgy, soft... I can almost feel the give of the paper, and hear the scratch of the pencil. See those two teardrop shapes connected by a sinuous line? They each have little white dots on them, like nail holes. The graphite isn't too thick, it's not built up; it's more of a delicate wash. Look at the little point at the top and bottom, how the handle narrows to a sharp edge, how he uses a simple line to communicate depth and shadow. The turn in the middle has a playful quality. I wonder if the artist felt it was like drawing the letter 's'? Like a painter's mark-making, Garay’s drawing embodies an ongoing exchange of ideas through time, always inspiring each other’s creativity. The drawing embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations. It is a study and something that evokes a memory.