Miniature Bellows Bottle c. 1936

John Tarantino made this drawing of a miniature bellows bottle, we don’t know exactly when. The marks have a delicate touch, like he’s coaxing the form out of the page. It’s like he’s feeling his way around the object, figuring out how to make it appear. Look closely and you can see where the graphite is darker, where he’s built up the shadows to give the bottle its volume. Then there are the lighter areas, almost shimmering, suggesting the glass catching the light. See the way the lines aren’t perfectly clean, they waver a little, giving the object a sense of being alive, breathing. I keep thinking about the phrase ‘bellows bottle’ – it sounds like the name of a character in a fairy tale! This piece reminds me of Vija Celmins’ drawings, the way she renders everyday objects with such care and attention, elevating them to something monumental. Art's always in conversation, right? Always looking back, always finding new ways to see. And that’s the thing about art, it’s not about answers, it’s about questions.