Praying to the Animals 1929 - 1980

Curator: This is Frances Richards' "Praying to the Animals," currently held in the Tate Collections. Look closely at the etching; what’s your initial sense of it? Editor: Ethereal, almost dreamlike. The composition feels like a half-remembered story, all those figures in prayer while animals float above them. Curator: Richards seems to be exploring the archetypal relationships between humans and animals here. Notice how the animals aren't simply present; they're integrated into the spiritual act of prayer. Editor: Absolutely. The bells suspended among the animals, for me, amplify a call to awareness and interspecies connectivity. It's as if the natural world is both witness and participant in our spiritual lives. Curator: The visual language suggests a deep reverence for the animal kingdom. It's fascinating how Richards uses symbolic imagery to express universal themes of devotion and our connection to nature. Editor: It makes me think about how, in our modern disconnection, we've lost sight of animals as divine messengers. Richards reminds us of the sacred in the everyday, the wild within the worship. Curator: A powerful thought, and certainly something to contemplate as we move through the exhibition.