Untitled (Sugar and Creamer)

James Castle, born deaf and mute, learned to communicate and interact with the world around him via visual and tactile means. In addition to his soot-and-spit drawings, Castle is well-known for his pieced-paper and card constructions, intricate objects that animate forms ranging from furniture, to clothing, to birds. He often explored the same items in different media, fully considering all elements of form via the artistic tools at his disposal.

Here, Untitled (Sugar and Creamer), Castle's exploration of a cup - a seemingly mundane, everyday thing - in both soot-and-spit drawing and pieced-paper construction elevates the object. The cup becomes an aesthetic vessel, to be prized for what it is, not simply what it does.