The Eternal Sun 1961

Curator: Looking at Cecil Collins's "The Eternal Sun" feels like peering into a spiritual eye, doesn't it? Editor: It does have that quality, though my first thought was how the stark monochrome emphasizes the material reality of the printmaking process itself. Curator: Yes, a dance of light and shadow! I imagine Collins, with each pull, felt closer to capturing something utterly transcendent. Editor: The absence of color directs our focus to the tonal gradations achieved through the inking, wiping, and pressure—the labor involved. Curator: For Collins, the sun, the eternal, it's all about accessing a realm of pure, childlike wonder. It's a visual poem about hope. Editor: And that poem is etched, quite literally, onto the paper, bearing the marks of its making. It's a testament to the physical act of creation, mirroring, perhaps, the eternal cycles it depicts. Curator: Absolutely, a connection forged between the artist’s hand and the cosmic heart. Editor: Precisely, a beautiful synthesis of the material and the metaphysical.