Center of Universe 

Curator: Ah, this one has always felt special. Here we have Remedios Varo’s painting "Center of Universe," an undated tempera on wood panel piece, full of detail and quiet energy. Editor: My initial feeling is... constricting, yet expansive. That central figure, trapped in his rhombus of a world, holds a universe inside himself. Or maybe he IS the universe. A lonely one, perhaps. Curator: Indeed. It's intriguing how Varo uses the material itself to convey such complexities. Tempera, known for its quick-drying properties, allows for those intricate lines, lending the figure an almost mechanical, otherworldly appearance. Think of it: egg yolk, pigment, applied layer upon painstaking layer. Editor: The wings of feathers…or are they more like dissected threads? It's like he's constructed from the same fabric as his universe, clinging to it as if it is an old cherished sweater, maybe it represents the societal threads he is a product of. The glass funnel atop his head to catch celestial wisdom is pure imaginative whimsy! Curator: A wonderful image! And consider the historical context; Varo, a refugee from the Spanish Civil War and later World War II. She brought this lived experience to Mexico and fused her circumstances to a visual vocabulary incorporating scientific diagrams with surrealist dreamscapes. The formal construction using tempera aligns with her concern with pre-modern techniques and artisanal making as resistance to the industrial means of art production of the 20th century. Editor: A subtle act of resistance, expressed so delicately. And what’s in this cosmos, a swirling, chaotic beauty – everything is contained within that vulnerable embrace. The isolation speaks to me—that sensation of being entirely self-sufficient and yet utterly adrift. Almost unbearably tender. Curator: It underscores Varo’s particular brand of surrealism, a kind of introspective, alchemical journey made physical through precise application and detailed labor. Editor: A journey that starts with materiality and technique but evolves into a very human—or cosmic—echo of ourselves. What an interesting artist! Curator: Precisely. Each brushstroke bears witness to process and meaning intertwined; it’s fascinating how materiality and making are here inseparable from experience.