Sheep Skull II 1998

Editor: Here we have John Walker's "Sheep Skull II." It's a stark black and white image, a print, and evokes a sense of both decay and maybe unexpected beauty. What do you make of it? Curator: It whispers to me of mortality, darling. The skull, stark against the shadowy depths, becomes a memento mori. I see not just death, though, but resilience, the enduring nature of bone, a silent witness to life's fleeting dramas. Don’t you find it rather haunting, yet captivating? Editor: Yes, haunting is the perfect word. I hadn't considered resilience though. I see mostly darkness and the end. Curator: Ah, but isn't it marvelous how art reveals different truths to each of us? Perhaps Walker wanted us to consider the dance between light and shadow, life and death. Editor: I suppose it is all a matter of perspective.