Copyright: © Vija Celmins | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Curator: Here we have Vija Celmins’ "Alliance," a print that juxtaposes a meticulously rendered ship with a field of stars. It’s part of the Tate collection, though its exact date remains unknown. Editor: It feels like two different worlds colliding, or maybe coexisting. The ship looks so precise, almost architectural, while the stars are infinite, untouchable. Curator: Absolutely, that contrast is key. Celmins often explores these themes of observation and representation. She meticulously recreates images, prompting us to consider the act of seeing itself. Editor: The ship feels so anchored and human. The stars become its dreamy, unattainable destination. Curator: Maybe it’s also about navigation, both literal and metaphorical. The ship as a vessel for exploration, guided by the stars, by our dreams? Editor: Or maybe it is about the voyage itself. Perhaps it's the tension between what we know and what we can only imagine, existing right there on the print, that really sings. Curator: A voyage through the cosmos, charted with graphite and ink. Editor: A lovely meditation, even.
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Alliance 1983 is a print that combines two plates placed one above the other in the centre of a single sheet with wide borders. The images are different sizes, the lower one being just slightly smaller than the top one. They are different in style – the top one depicts a line drawing of a ship and the bottom one a close-up depiction of the night-sky, where a black surface is covered in white stars. The print is made using aquatint, mezzotint and dry-point, which are all used when making intaglio etchings. Celmins has a long history of using traditional methods of print-making in her practice; this work is one of a number of intaglio prints that she made at Gemini, GEL in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s. Related prints include Jupiter Moon – Constellation 1983 (Tate ARTIST ROOMS AR00481), Constellation – Uccello 1983 (Tate ARTIST ROOMS AR00606) and Concentric Bearings A 1984 (Tate ARTIST ROOMS AR00469) – all of which similarly combine two images on a single plate.
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