Cristine Brache
Gaslight (after Remedios Varo, Papillar Estelar, 1958), 2020
9.5" x 25.5" x 19.5"
Resin, Steel, LEDs
Exhibited in:
Brache’s sculpture of a caged glowing moon is titled Gaslight (after Remedios Varo, Papillar Estelar, 1958) and references the surrealist painting acknowledged and bracketed in the sculpture’s title. The painting, Papillar Eselar by artist Remedios Varo (1908-1963) translates to Star Maker in English. Rendered in oil on canvas, Varo depicts a beleaguered woman, isolated in a wooden tower so tall it touches the cosmos, who spoon feeds a glowing crescent moon a bit of star paste she churns from a small mill. It is Varo’s work is often incorrectly miscredited to Leonara Carington. Varo’s intent for the piece, to remind the viewer of the experience of transmuting hope into opportunity, is often lost along the way as. Brache’s sculpture, one part of a larger installation titled, Commit Me; Commit to Me (Cázame; Cásame) previously exhibited at Fierman Gallery in 2020 uplifted Varo, and herself, from the margins of surrealist history by realizing the painting’s core elements as an installation.