Foot Scraper c. 1939

Curator: Immediately striking. It has a wonderful balance of charm and straightforward representation. Editor: Indeed. Here we have Helen Hobart's pencil drawing "Foot Scraper", dating to around 1939. Curator: The artist clearly wanted to convey the texture and shape of this utilitarian object. The work on paper feels intentionally flattened; Hobart seems less concerned with illusions of depth and shadow. It almost gives a diagrammatic impression. Editor: Exactly. It is rendered simply, but the drawing provides plenty of information about how it was constructed: we see the perforations in the base, for instance. I wonder about the role this humble object played. Where would such a foot scraper be placed and used? And how was it forged? Curator: Interesting. But, do you not think the cat form is rather playfully employed and emphasized? There’s an unexpected lightness to it despite its heavy material origins. I'd say the subject of this drawing exists as something of an everyman item, accessible and necessary for rural homes, which certainly informed its making. Editor: The repeated horizontal line of the scraper's base really anchors the piece. It provides a very solid grounding point which I like! Perhaps a way to read the cat itself could be as an element that both divides the home and its threshold? A domestic comfort or a sign for unwelcome guests? Curator: Now, that’s a nice thought. I was seeing a geometric style, that perhaps also references folk art of the period, it certainly draws one’s eyes to the subject, but now that I know of its everyday applications and manufacture, the artist gives the viewer information about not just the image, but its original placement. Editor: Agreed, It provides new contexts from what it is made of to how the viewer may now encounter and engage with it. It provides the work with its own threshold that invites more conversation than what meets the eye. Curator: Exactly! A perfect note to end on.