La Roccia 1971 - 1972

Curator: This is Graham Sutherland's "La Roccia," created sometime during his lifetime from 1903 to 1980 and held at the Tate. Editor: It feels almost like a stage set. The heavy green tones and looming darkness evoke a very theatrical sense of drama. Curator: Sutherland's engagement with the physical world, his labor in transforming the natural landscape through mark-making, is really evident here. Look at how the texture of the stone is built up. Editor: Indeed, and notice how the forms almost suggest faces. There's a mirroring, perhaps, between the human form and the enduring presence of nature. Curator: I'm fascinated by how his process, the lithography, allows for a layering that speaks to the geological processes themselves. Editor: Ultimately, I think Sutherland's piece reminds us of the human desire to find meaning and faces in everything around us, in the symbols nature gives us. Curator: Absolutely. A tangible reminder of the artist's labor and nature’s material transformations.