Study for Head of Watcher 1951 - 1952

Curator: I find myself drawn to the almost desperate upward gaze. There's a striking vulnerability in Reg Butler’s Study for Head of Watcher. Editor: Indeed. And Butler's construction as a blacksmith before becoming a sculptor certainly influenced his approach to art making. This work on paper, dated 1952, reveals a similar kind of raw construction. Curator: I’m struck by how the limited palette and the skeletal lines convey such a powerful sense of yearning. The ochre background is like earth. Editor: The hatching technique to sculpt the face, and the lines defining the figure, recall modernist sculpture production. The image is all about the creation of form. Curator: It feels almost like a plea, and that the figure is searching for answers above. Editor: Perhaps this work is a response to the societal anxieties after the war, and the role of the Watcher, both human and divine, in overseeing humanity. Curator: A fascinating perspective. For me, it's the simplicity that makes it so compelling. Editor: For me it is how form is revealed, adding layers of meaning.