Nausicaa 1973 - 1974

Editor: This is Dame Elisabeth Frink's "Nausicaa," currently residing in the Tate Collections. The figures are so striking, but there's a dreamlike quality to the scene. What do you make of it? Curator: Note how Frink layers classical narrative with primal imagery. The vulnerable, reclining figure of Odysseus echoes ancient Greek sculpture, yet he's rendered with a raw, almost animalistic energy. Do you see how the women in the background appear almost spectral? Editor: Yes, they seem detached, almost like memories or figments of Odysseus’ imagination. Curator: Exactly. Frink uses this imagery to explore themes of memory, desire, and the enduring power of myth. The trees, too, become symbolic guardians of this space between waking and dreaming. Editor: So the image, on one level, represents the encounter between Nausicaa and Odysseus. Curator: Yes, but it also triggers something primal and archetypal within us as viewers. The imagery asks us, what memories and symbols do we carry? Editor: That's a great insight. It’s more than just a scene; it’s a doorway into our own cultural memory.