Earrings c. 1937

Tulita Westfall rendered these earrings in watercolor and graphite at an unknown date. Aren't they fascinating? Westfall delicately applied color in graded washes across each earring, which gives them a kind of luminous quality. The graphite provides firm outlines and is also used to add texture. Look closely and you'll see, the artist was clearly very interested in the different qualities of light and shade on these objects. The silver earrings, especially, have this wonderful gradient of cool gray tones from top to bottom. You get a real sense of the light catching on the metal. What strikes me most is the way the artist transforms functional objects into something else entirely. It reminds me a little bit of Vija Celmins' meticulous renderings of everyday objects. Both artists prompt us to consider how something shifts between being an object, and being an image. With this work, Westfall invites us into a quiet contemplation about the nature of seeing.