Calypso 1973 - 1974

Editor: Here we have Dame Elisabeth Frink's "Calypso," a print from an unknown date, part of the Tate collection. The limited color palette and sketchy lines create a sense of being lost at sea. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a focus on the physical act of creation itself. The visible process of printmaking, the specific inks used, speaks to a deliberate choice. How does the materiality of the print, the labor involved in its production, relate to the myth of Calypso? Editor: That's a great question! It makes me think about the labor and the object of the boat, and how they might relate to one another. Curator: Exactly. Frink perhaps highlights the tension between the idealised myth and the grounded reality of making art, where materials and process dictate the final form.