Silver Spoon c. 1936

Charlotte Winter made "Silver Spoon" with graphite on paper, the date is unknown. Isn’t it interesting how Winter has arranged the spoons one above the other as if they are floating, disembodied from the table? The way she’s meticulously rendered the sheen of the silver, almost photographic in its precision, makes me wonder about the act of looking. Graphite offers a soft tonal range. Close attention to detail becomes a form of meditation, a way of slowing down and really seeing an object. I love the slight imperfections, the smudges and the visible lines of the underdrawing. This reminds me of the work of Vija Celmins, whose precisely rendered drawings of everyday objects have the same quiet intensity and attention to detail. These remind us that art is about process. It's an act of translation. It's about seeing and thinking.