A Song 1960

Curator: Cecil Collins' "A Song," residing here at the Tate, immediately strikes me as a study in contrasts. The stark black and white, the ethereal figure against the denser shapes... Editor: Yes, it's immediately striking how the materiality of the printmaking process emphasizes those contrasts. Look at the density of the ink in areas, and how the textures vary. Curator: The figure appears to be a kind of cosmic muse, holding a star-filled orb. She feels like a timeless archetype. Editor: And yet, the act of creating this print, the labor involved in the etching or lithography – that brings it back to earth. It's a manufactured image, intentionally made by hand. Curator: Perhaps, but it's one infused with a sense of the eternal. Those spiraling forms – cosmic eddies, perhaps – echo motifs found across cultures for millennia. It’s like a visual poem. Editor: A poem shaped by tools and processes! It's fascinating how Collins uses a mechanical means to evoke such spiritual themes. Something to consider.