Remedios Varo
Discover more from Sarah Dzida: A Digital Garden
Remedios Varo
How you can have a lifelong relationship with art
I first started paying attention to art I liked in college; that’s where I started developing my “taste.” Part of it was to find decorations to adorn my dorm rooms that imparted something about me; the other part was to figure out what I thought about myself when I looked at these things.
I now understand that my favorite art is something I love to look at often. It’s like the ocean or the sky; I can meditate upon it with great pleasure. I am pleased to look at the whole thing and also to consider the details. My favorite art also figures in my life; I have a relationship with the pieces. They shape who I am in unexpected ways. That’s what brings us to Remedios Varo.
In college, I studied abroad in Mexico, and that’s where I first encountered this surrealist painter. I have no notes about her in my journals, but she figures prominently in my memories of it now. In grad school, a teacher said the difference between memoir and biography is perception vs factual record. The former tries to capture your memory of the truth. The latter is concerned with being as close to the truth as possible.
So Remedios Varo is for me. I think I saw her paintings for the first time while running through Chapultepec Park. Specifically, The Flight I believe:
Since then, I always look out for her. Whenever there’s an exhibit, I go. When I went back to Mexico I tried to find her. If I’m in art bookstores, I look for her work. I always am looking to buy prints. This one sits on my desk. How I love it!
