Horses - white/gray I 

Curator: This artwork is titled "Horses - white/gray I" by Małgorzata Serwatka. It appears to be rendered in oil paint and charcoal, displaying elements of both drawing and painting. What strikes you initially about this piece? Editor: There’s a dreamlike quality, isn't there? It's as if I’m peering through mist at these two horses. The muted palette adds to that sense of gentle ethereality. Curator: Indeed, the limited color range, predominantly grays and whites, gives it a timeless quality. Horses, historically, have represented various aspects of power, freedom, and even grace, haven’t they? And here they are almost spectral. Editor: Absolutely. Horses also speak to our relationship with the natural world. Here, the simplification of form reduces them to archetypes almost. Note how their features are blurred and their bodies ghostlike. The use of charcoal brings the viewer to consider more basic artistic intentions. It has the hallmarks of Paleolithic cave paintings! It really seems to pull up cultural memory from a distant, unknowable place. Curator: The realism that the artist strives for adds complexity to this interpretation of historical artistic symbols. Yet, this is not an idealized scene. The artist presents the animal’s mundane aspect, even, which creates another possible social context. Editor: Do you think Serwatka is inviting us to re-evaluate the symbols or traditional heroic narratives associated with the horse, perhaps offering a commentary on the relationship between the noble steed and modern life? Curator: That’s a compelling argument. Serwatka, through this work, offers a dialogue between traditional symbolism and contemporary experience, compelling viewers to reconcile iconic images with lived realities. This piece invites us to contemplate the ways historical depictions inform our perception of the world, but also considers the political dimensions inherent in representation. Editor: Precisely. A quiet, profound consideration of how we are linked to our own past. I think that as an iconographer, it’s a real pleasure to think through. Curator: It really prompts one to reflect on the role of art in preserving and challenging our understanding of history and nature, which I feel it expresses effectively.