Navy Sea 2016

Editor: We're looking at David Michael Hinnebusch's "Navy Sea" from 2016, created with mixed media, including acrylic and gestural paint. The heavy reds initially feel kind of angry to me, almost like a primal scream. How do you interpret this work? Curator: "Navy Sea" vibrates, doesn't it? It throws you right into the deep end. For me, it's less rage and more raw exposure. Imagine standing on a shore during a storm; the colours aren’t just seen but *felt* pressing against you. The “sea” isn’t a calming blue, but a churning, emotional space, perhaps less about the navy itself, and more about our *navy*, our gut, those swirling emotions within us. Does it feel a little… unsettled, to you? Editor: Definitely unsettling. The red seems to contain some blues that give the image the impression of being like peering within, just like you said. So you think the title is ironic, hinting at something deeper? Curator: Exactly! Hinnebusch is clever here. That suggestion of water, coupled with such turbulent brushwork. Notice also how the 'subject' seems fragmented, fighting against a desire for coherence? We see faces and figures emerge and recede simultaneously, it speaks of how we might only be granted fragments. What do you take from that tension? Editor: It makes me wonder about identity, how we piece together a sense of self from these fragments of experience. The colours now read to me as struggle... but a beautiful one? Curator: Precisely. It's not just angst, is it? There's beauty born out of confronting chaos. It’s as though the painting is saying, ‘Yes, life is messy and difficult, but look, look at the intensity and vibrancy within that.’ What I see is an embrace, perhaps? Editor: Absolutely. The title pulled me in thinking of open water, but looking closely reveals internal struggles represented by this tumultuous inner landscape. Thanks for your insights!