[title not known] 1981

Editor: This interesting print by William Johnstone, held at the Tate, presents an abstract face beside a poem called "The Face." The stark contrast and distorted features feel quite unsettling to me. What symbols or cultural references do you recognize here? Curator: The "face," so to speak, is a palimpsest of cultural anxieties. Johnstone, steeped in Surrealism and Scottish symbolism, presents us with a primal mask. Note how it simultaneously evokes ancient ritualistic objects and modern anxieties about identity. The poem suggests a longing to hide behind a mask, to present a curated self. Editor: So, you're saying the distortion reflects a fractured sense of self? Curator: Precisely. It's a dialogue between concealment and revelation. The interplay of text and image deepens this tension, forcing us to confront the constructed nature of the face we present to the world. Editor: That makes me consider my own masks. Thank you. Curator: A fruitful reflection indeed.