Petroglyph - Animal 1935 - 1942

Curator: This print, created by Lala Eve Rivol between 1935 and 1942, is titled "Petroglyph - Animal," which feels incredibly direct. Honestly, what strikes me first is how playful these symbols feel, like visual poems etched in stone. Editor: Indeed. Though these may be inspired by prehistoric art from Indigenous Americas, the context has shifted, so it is crucial to think of appropriation and potential re-signification, maybe even abstraction here. Curator: Abstraction is a good word. The human figures remind me a bit of stick figures—or are they shamans in a trance, captured mid-dance? They could symbolize family, community. And is that a canine figure above? There's a story begging to be told here, even without any words that we understand. It tickles the imagination, doesn't it? Editor: Yes, definitely. These images raise questions around communication and semiotics—what does it mean when a culture uses abstracted human or animal figures to express and record information? What gets lost in translation from then to now? Curator: That makes me think of that tension between the concrete and the ineffable. Like trying to pin down a feeling. It seems the artist wanted to engage with something very ancient, yet interpret through the artist's unique lens. Did she manage to bring it alive in the present? Or are we simply tourists gazing at a ruin? Editor: It can certainly be both, right? As viewers, we're implicated. Our own perspectives shift how we interpret. Considering that Rivol was making this art during a really turbulent time period historically also gives you a great point of entry into her work. Curator: True. In its simplicity, there is space for meaning to change over time. It doesn’t shout answers but rather gently poses questions. Editor: Precisely. Perhaps it is more about the act of searching, connecting to echoes from the past, and re-contextualizing to fit into the present.