Bandbox 1935 - 1942

Editor: Here we have a work titled "Bandbox", created between 1935 and 1942, employing watercolor and coloured pencils. It's deceptively simple, but the meticulous detailing on what seems like an ordinary container gives it an air of quiet sophistication. What do you make of it? Curator: For me, this image provokes questions about domestic labor and the "hidden" artistic practices of women. It appears to be an item made for personal use; not an artwork created for gallery exhibition. Note the attention dedicated to crafting the pattern, which could tell us about leisure time and resource availability during this period. What can this choice of material suggest to us? Editor: That's fascinating! The bandbox looks like it’s been carefully rendered, despite the mundane subject matter. Are you saying its value lies in it's link to a potentially marginalized craft? Curator: Precisely. This drawing gives status to those usually outside the realms of "high art" due to social or class restraints. Looking at the repetition of the motifs, do you think it mirrors factory line techniques which were burgeoning at the time, bringing an element of labor to an otherwise genteel object? Editor: I hadn’t considered that! The dots could certainly symbolize repetitive manufacturing, cleverly disguised as decoration. Curator: Furthermore, what does it mean that someone has gone to the labour of painting this box, itself a vessel crafted for use, representing a layered approach to both art-making, utility and resource? It opens dialogues on how labour is made invisible or visible, doesn’t it? Editor: Absolutely, and it encourages one to consider what materials were easily accessible and valuable at the time. Thank you. I will keep my eye open to that moving forward. Curator: Yes, and consider the gender implications; in that period art materials for a woman were for smaller scale "minor art".