David in the Wilderness 1956

Curator: This arresting print before us is titled "David in the Wilderness." Norma Morgan created this piece in 1956. Editor: My first impression is, wow, that rock face looks like it's about to swallow the sky! And the light...it feels both oppressive and delicate. It is as if silence has its own texture here. Curator: Considering Morgan's broader oeuvre, wilderness motifs and particularly Biblical figures set apart are significant themes. What's fascinating is how she renders this specific scene. The historical and religious contexts are interwoven, and there's an almost palpable tension there. David, traditionally seen as a heroic figure, is placed within a landscape of sharp, jagged edges and uncertainty. Editor: Uncertainty is spot-on. There is a raw immediacy that really gets under your skin, doesn't it? The way she builds the rocks up feels very tactile, too. The layering kind of mimics emotional layers, like digging through complex feelings. It’s funny how you expect "wilderness" to be peaceful, but this is full of jagged drama. I think about personal demons as the wilderness David has to contend with here. Curator: The composition actively guides our interpretation. Note how the light source, almost lunar in its effect, illuminates only parts of the rugged terrain, leaving much shrouded in shadow. That darkness seems almost to actively resist understanding, obscuring clear narratives and forcing viewers to grapple with ambiguous emotional states. What does it mean to show one face, or one piece of ourselves while others go unexposed? Editor: It is like we only catch glimpses of meaning! So it becomes our job to complete the story of these jagged forms and shapes of David and the moon's story. That challenge, that feeling, it lingers. Like the wilderness continues to live inside us after this one experience with a landscape of struggle and uncertainty, to your point! Curator: Precisely, Morgan's wilderness becomes a psychological landscape that mirrors and amplifies inner turmoil. Editor: You know, getting lost in those shadows kind of makes me appreciate finding a path, even if it's overgrown, if that makes any sense. The artwork creates these strange personal paradoxes. Curator: Norma Morgan challenges conventional perspectives on landscape art, prompting deep reflection. Editor: I am leaving here thinking about light and shadow differently. And perhaps that's a gift to me.