Birth of a Flower 1951

Editor: This is Geoffrey Clarke's "Birth of a Flower," a print held at the Tate. It's a busy image, almost like looking at an alien landscape, or maybe even the inside of a strange, blossoming mind. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Oh, I love that, "blossoming mind"! For me, the print feels like a coded message from Clarke. The spiky, almost tribal forms seem to dance between joy and anxiety. Is that sun smiling or glaring down upon this "birth?" Editor: That's a great point! I was so focused on the organic shapes, I didn't really notice the tension. Curator: Right? And the rough texture of the printmaking process adds to that feeling, don't you think? It's birth, but maybe birth is also a struggle. Editor: I’m starting to see the complexity. Thanks, I never would have caught that! Curator: It's all in the eye of the beholder, isn’t it? The real birth is the one that happens in our minds when we look at art.