Norfolk Farm 1977

Editor: This is "Norfolk Farm" by Valerie Thornton, we don't have an exact date for it, but it's part of the Tate collection. It’s a print of a farm building, primarily in red and greys. The textures are incredible. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: I see a compelling study in the labor of building and maintaining this structure. The printmaking process itself mirrors that labor, doesn't it? Consider the repetitive, almost obsessive mark-making that defines the surfaces. Editor: Absolutely, there's a rhythm in the marks, like the work of laying bricks. Curator: Precisely! And the choice of materials – the inks, the paper – these aren't accidental. They speak to the accessibility and, perhaps, the everyday-ness of rural life. Editor: That’s insightful. It makes me think about how art materials themselves carry meaning. Curator: Exactly! And how Thornton elevates the mundane, the farm, through her artistic labor. It’s fascinating.