#01: El Gallo (The Rooster) 2008

Curator: Here we have Marina Pallares’ 2008 woodcut print, #01: El Gallo (The Rooster). Editor: It’s striking. The stark black and white contrast creates such an intense, almost visceral sensation. All those hand-carved lines definitely evoke something primordial. Curator: Indeed, that rawness contributes to its potency. Beyond the surface aesthetics, “El Gallo,” the rooster, is laden with symbolism. Historically, it's been a potent emblem of virility, courage, and even resurrection across various cultures. Consider its frequent appearance in folklore and religious art as an emblem of vigilance and the heralding of new beginnings. Editor: I'm thinking about the act of carving. You have a direct connection to the material itself. With the gouge in your hand, against the resistance of the wood. This process becomes physically inscribed into the matrix itself. Each groove is intentional. This isn't mechanized; it's deliberately, meticulously hand-wrought, the antithesis to mass production. You can almost see Pallares at work. Curator: Absolutely, and those swirls above, resembling either smoke or perhaps celestial phenomena, amplify the image. Could they represent ancestral ties or mystical undercurrents prevalent in certain Latin American belief systems? Even that lone "1" in the upper right feels…deliberately cryptic. Editor: The placement of the "1" certainly disrupts expectations. The way the artist exploits negative space here to generate such vibrant detail is superb. From those tiny palm fronds and pineapples to the rooster’s intricate plumage, she maximizes minimal material input. Curator: The visual weight definitely lies with that central figure, boldly juxtaposed against that implied landscape featuring a volcano...an active landscape which emphasizes the symbolic rooster with the land it inhabits. This artwork embodies complex meaning through careful figuration, a nod towards resilience, rebirth and potent cultural memory. Editor: For me, it's all about the handmade aspect and what the materials themselves tell us about the relationship between the artist’s hands, the wood, and her lived reality. Curator: An engagement with symbols alongside a study in making--thank you for this exchange, bringing those observations to the foreground, highlighting the symbolic heft and the making of a rooster as more than just a bird on paper. Editor: Definitely. I leave seeing how manual skill combined with resourceful usage can transform raw materials into meaningful artwork.