Doll Dress c. 1936

James McLellan made this watercolour of a doll’s dress, but we don't know when. The dress is mostly white, maybe a bit grey, and McLellan uses a very light touch to describe it. It's like he's feeling his way around the form, adding thin layers, and letting the whiteness of the paper do a lot of the work. I notice, in particular, the way the skirt is rendered. McLellan seems to use the negative space almost more than the positive. The paper shines through all those little white dots and flower shapes, giving the impression of a lace. It’s like he’s building this thing from nothing, from absences. Maybe Agnes Martin could have been a touchstone for McLellan. They both share a similar approach to mark-making. But McLellan is different. He’s interested in the details, the frills, and all that lace. Art, for me, is always a conversation, a back-and-forth across time and space. It’s never about final answers, but always about asking new questions.