Carbon 1987

Editor: So here we have "Carbon," a 1987 charcoal drawing by Betty Goodwin. The figures seem to emerge from a hazy background. They’re fragmented, distorted, almost ghost-like. What strikes you most when you look at this piece? Curator: You know, it feels to me like an excavation – not just of the image itself, but of something deeply buried within the self. See how the figures appear almost trapped within the medium, struggling to break free from the darkness? The charcoal becomes a metaphor, maybe for repressed emotion or unresolved experiences. Goodwin, I think, invites us to consider the weight of the past and the human capacity to endure, even when we're reduced to barely-there sketches. Doesn't it feel as though these aren’t bodies as such, but the residue of bodies? Editor: That’s interesting, "the residue of bodies". It makes me think about memory and how it fades, how experiences become fragmented over time. The looseness of the marks really reflects that. Curator: Absolutely! And consider how Goodwin utilizes the stark contrast between light and shadow. It creates this tension, doesn't it? Almost a palpable sense of unease. This interplay suggests to me the complex duality of human existence. There’s both beauty and despair, hope and hopelessness... they wrestle within the same space. Editor: I can definitely see that now. It's much more layered than I initially thought. What do you make of the title, "Carbon," in connection with these ideas? Curator: Oh, a clever prompt. Think about it: carbon, the element essential to all known life. Isn’t Goodwin, perhaps, pointing to the elemental nature of suffering, and ultimately, the cyclical nature of existence? I’m drawn back to excavation - this almost feels as if she is scraping through the very foundations of existence itself. A humbling experience. Editor: Wow, I’m so glad you shared that perspective. I'll never look at this piece the same way again! Curator: And I, your thoughtful promptings, have found in this ‘carbon’ drawing a little more about what animates my own experience of art, its cyclical essence, its dark matter.