Two Stone Story of Their Metamorphose
Artist
Roberto S.A. Matta-Echaurren
(Chilean, 1911 - 2002)
Date1941
MediumPencil and crayon on cardboard
DimensionsOverall: 16 1/2 x 21in. (41.9 x 53.3cm)
ClassificationsDRAWINGS
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number57.326
Description On View
Not on viewLabel TextMatta was influenced by both physics and mysticism, and believed that all matter, space, and time are in a constant cycle of pulsating and merging. He coined words such as “mattermovement,” “lightshadow,” and “attractionrepulsion” to explain this phenomenon of flux.
Matta’s imagery can be representational, abstracted from nature, or what he called “the never seen.” This last category might be what he called an “inscape” that reveals psychological states. In this drawing, the paper is gridded like a comic strip, with shapes floating in each panel. The hard stones of the title have morphed into soft creatures that seem to be engaged in a mating dance.
