forgotten

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on May 7, 2023 at 3:25pm

 

Curator’s Comments:

This acrylic piece entitled Forgotten appeared in a random grouping of images, and I had the opportunity to revisit your masterfully constructed paintings.  Rather than breaking down a photographic source into pixelated cubes, as I admired in the painting Giving Up, this image reduces information and identity through a silhouetting technique. The blackened figures move in and out of a loosely defined urban space, while an abandoned child in diapers occupies the emptier right half of the picture plane.  This juxtaposition is unsettling, as the viewer is positioned in the foreground space, as another disassociated onlooker. We empathize with the small body of the child; the blended brushwork provides a softness that is only afforded this figure, resulting a humanistic distinction. I also appreciate the decision to keep the various faces obscured, as the result is a universal and immediately sensed dread with the child’s plight. Looking back through your other pieces on the site affirms reoccurring positioning of an isolated figure within a multi-figure pictorial narrative.  The psychology of these relationships are often overwrought, but its difficult to pull away.  Recognizing these paintings were created a decade ago, I would love to experience your painting practice today.  Please consider adding new works if you still visit the site.