Sœurs obsidiennes 

Editor: Here we have Wolfgang Paalen's "Sœurs obsidiennes," an oil painting that’s often associated with both Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. It strikes me as quite dark and mysterious; the forms seem to hint at figures without fully revealing them. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a dialogue with the subconscious, filtered through a lens of post-colonial experience. Paalen’s work here resonates with the tension between European modernism and Indigenous knowledge systems. Obsidian, of course, is volcanic glass, sacred in many Mesoamerican cultures. Do you see how these ‘sisters’ might represent a fractured cultural identity, caught between worlds? Editor: I think I do. The lines and shapes, almost glyph-like, certainly suggest a coded language. Are you saying he’s using abstraction to explore the impact of colonization on indigenous cultures? Curator: Precisely. Abstraction, in this context, becomes a tool for both concealment and revelation. Think about it: How might a Surrealist sensibility, obsessed with dreams and the unconscious, intersect with the very real displacement and trauma caused by colonial powers? Editor: So the darkness isn't just aesthetic; it's symbolic of cultural loss and the obscuring of Indigenous voices. Curator: Indeed. And the "sisters" perhaps represent the resilience and survival of those voices, re-emerging, transformed, through the volcanic force of history. What do you make of the relationship between the rigid and the free-flowing lines? Editor: Now that you mention it, there's a clear contrast... Perhaps mirroring the struggle between imposed structure and liberated expression. It’s definitely made me rethink my initial impression! Curator: Absolutely, it’s important to contextualize artworks like this beyond formal analysis and consider the artist's sociopolitical framework, don’t you think? Editor: I do. Seeing art as an intersection of so many ideas – philosophy, history, even politics – makes the viewing experience so much more meaningful.