The Beginning of Miracles: XIII 1953

Editor: So, this is Corita Kent's "The Beginning of Miracles: XIII" from 1953, a linocut monoprint. It's quite abstract, almost like an echo. What do you see when you look at this piece? Curator: I immediately think about the labor involved in printmaking, especially in 1953. Kent chose linocut, a process lending itself to multiples but here used for a unique monoprint. The deliberate use of such a modest material pushes against traditional notions of art as precious, doesn’t it? Editor: Definitely. I guess I hadn’t thought about linocut as deliberately "modest." Curator: Consider also the social context. Post-war America, consumerism on the rise, and here’s Kent, a nun, using readily available materials, and potentially discarded linoleum, to create something spiritually evocative. Do you see how the hand-drawn type hints at textual inspiration, further connecting the work to accessible communication rather than elite artistic traditions? Editor: Yes, the type seems integral to the overall texture. The pink, though, it seems like an odd choice for the '50s. Curator: Or perhaps a very knowing one. Think of pink’s evolving association with femininity and consumer culture during that era. It’s a colour both loaded and deceptively simple. It challenges a purely reverent interpretation, hinting at a complex dialogue with the world around her. What’s your take on that duality? Editor: It almost feels like she's reclaiming it, taking this color associated with commercialism and using it in a religious context. The texture itself seems almost subversive given that reclaiming, a visual representation of repurposed materials? Curator: Precisely. We can consider this a radical act within the artistic landscape of the time, where materiality and process are brought to the fore to challenge social and artistic norms. Editor: Wow, I didn’t consider all of those angles when I first looked at it. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure. It is often in the materials and production methods themselves where much of the meaning resides.