Evening at the Castle Wall 1980

Curator: Maria Bozoky created "Evening at the Castle Wall" in 1980 using pastel and pencil on paper. Editor: Immediately, the rough texture and cool hues give me a sense of a somewhat uneasy rural environment. The lone figure feels caught between worlds, caught at that boundary point of town and forest. Curator: That feeling of liminal space really resonates. Bozoky seems interested in interrogating the construction of gender and isolation, doesn't she? This woman is rendered faceless, alone, carrying a basket whose contents are unknown. Is it nourishment or labor? Perhaps it symbolizes the weight of expectation placed on women. Editor: It’s compelling to see how Bozoky renders the surrounding structures as looming, almost ghostly. We get the sense that all matter is just layers upon layers of drawing and pencil. And I’m drawn to the fact that, despite being titled as part of the Castle, the structures appear much more like rudimentary farming or workshop buildings than, say, a church or factory. Curator: You highlight the very hands-on, tactile quality that characterizes much of Bozoky's oeuvre. Considering its 1980 date, I’d read these deliberate choices in form and technique, like her deliberate use of drawing instead of photography or painting, as direct challenges to then-contemporary, male-dominated approaches to representing working women. The sketch-like handling also softens what otherwise may seem rather drab, even hostile structures. Editor: Precisely, because it’s on paper instead of canvas or photography, there’s an emphasis on both process and social context, but most particularly what that specific medium, drawing and coloring pencils, is doing formally, in concert with the thematic content. Also note the lack of a horizon line. We, as viewers, are made acutely aware of the support as object. It’s the labor-intensive accumulation that drives this piece, in both materials and social class. Curator: So insightful. We move between media, social context and its construction in a really illuminating manner. Thank you! Editor: Likewise. Always revealing to return to what artworks actually tell us about themselves.