Creation of the world or microcosm 

Curator: Remedios Varo's painting, "Creation of the world or microcosm", rendered in oil, presents a unique interpretation of creation. What stands out to you initially? Editor: My first thought is about how meticulously it's painted. You can practically feel the texture of the canvas. The material choices—the paint itself and the panel she's working on—were clearly very important to her craft. Curator: Indeed. Varo interweaves mechanistic and organic elements. What symbolic weight might we attribute to those mechanical vehicles carrying humans and creatures aloft? Editor: The flying vehicles interest me too, as do the whimsical quality to these objects and beings! There's so much detail embedded in her treatment of material culture: the rivets, the seams... I wonder about Varo's engagement with wartime production and post-war anxieties as expressed in the machinery represented. Curator: It’s fascinating to view the symbolism through that lens. The creatures enclosed in these delicate craft suggest something vulnerable, possibly about our internal, fragile, natural world. Do they look trapped or in transit, would you say? Editor: A bit of both, I’d wager. It's tempting to imagine what materials went into this process of her painting as well as building and thinking about this bizarre world. Curator: Varo suggests, visually, a circuit that integrates humanity with the cosmos. Do you believe she’s exploring ideas about agency within this preordained framework? The materials feel so important to the message overall. Editor: The interconnectedness is beautifully eerie, I agree! So, in your reading, these might be emblems of controlled resources – a play on the social relations embedded in raw material production? Curator: Potentially. We could explore the ways she brings in alchemy, the transformative power and inherent value in the work that lies beneath. These objects contain an incredible complexity when it comes to materials! Editor: Agreed. Varo provides so many visual textures to consider—almost a survey of industrial innovation rendered in oil. So many layers, materially, psychologically... Curator: Exactly. It's this combination of materiality, process and unique iconography, reflecting inner worlds, that makes this creation scene feel deeply personal. Editor: Thanks. Seeing these allegorical figures amidst such meticulous and yet very earthly techniques certainly gives me something to think about.