Doll - "Emily" c. 1938

Rex F. Bush made "Doll - Emily" with what looks like watercolor on paper. I find myself drawn to the way the grid pattern on Emily’s dress isn’t quite perfect. It’s this subtle imperfection that makes the doll feel so personal, like a beloved object. The blue trim is applied with an even hand, the marks are confident and precise. And the same can be said for the painting of her face. The texture of the paper peeks through the watercolor washes, adding a delicate, tactile quality to the surface. It is as though the artist wanted to capture not just the image of the doll, but its very essence. I love how Bush has embraced the inherent qualities of the medium to convey a sense of fragility and warmth, it is really beautiful. This piece makes me think of the drawings of Henry Darger, in the way it creates its own strange and beautiful world. Art, after all, is about embracing ambiguity, and finding beauty in the unexpected.