Doll Furniture - Chair c. 1937

Ellen Duncan made this watercolor of a chair, probably from her home, at some point in her life. It feels like she’s conjuring a very specific kind of domestic space with it. I like to imagine her looking intensely at the simple form, trying to get it just right, and yet, the legs are a little wobbly, and the proportions feel slightly off. It’s as though she’s thinking not just about how the chair looks, but how it *feels* to sit in it. There's something about the careful brushstrokes that makes me think of Agnes Martin, who also made the most of the simplest gestures. Both artists demonstrate how much can be communicated with so little. And how everyday life is totally worthy of our artistic attention. Each artist is in conversation with those who came before them; it’s like we’re all working together to expand how we see and experience the world.