Eurydice n.37 2001

Curator: Welcome. Here we see Bracha L. Ettinger's "Eurydice n.37," created in 2001, a work of mixed media encompassing textile, paper, and graphite. It immediately strikes me as something emerging from the depths, or perhaps dissolving back into them. Editor: My first impression is a ghost in the machine. A faded memory struggling to hold form, like an echo trapped within a very fine, persistent mesh. Is that a portrait I see fading into the background, into the weave itself? Curator: Indeed. Ettinger often layers and obscures imagery, referencing the myth of Eurydice, a figure trapped between worlds. There’s a historical resonance, considering Eurydice as representative of suppressed voices throughout history. The "n.37" suggests an ongoing exploration, a revisiting of this archetypal story through abstraction. The layering mirrors how trauma is often registered, fragmented and veiled. Editor: You know, that fragmentation makes perfect sense. There’s this real tension in the composition; this push and pull between legibility and chaos. I almost want to rub the surface, to see if I can coax the image further forward. Is this how one touches trauma, so to speak? Delicately? With intention, or does it unravel under pressure? Curator: Precisely. Ettinger engages with ideas of witnessing and shared trauma. The techniques she uses--layering and erasure--become metaphorical tools. You cannot directly access the core of the experience without mediation; everything is seen through a screen, historical distance or emotional barriers. Consider also the public role of art. Does the artwork itself help bear witness and allow for healing? Editor: Hmm, healing. I see that, too, like stitching, a tapestry woven out of threads of what was and is. What I take from this piece is less about history as fact, and more as a visceral echo. Thank you. I keep finding unexpected corners. Curator: A potent piece indeed.