Affection 2021

Michael Cheval’s painting, “Affection,” uses oil paint to conjure a world of surreal elegance. The smooth surfaces and controlled brushwork recall classical portraiture, yet the imagery is anything but traditional. The subject, a woman in a patterned dress, blends the familiar and the strange. Her elaborate hairstyle, rendered in meticulous detail, seems to be a landscape, a kind of surreal backdrop. The folds of the dress and the bouquet of flowers she holds also seem to be in a state of change. It is this attention to detail that lends the painting its compelling power, even though the painting may appear whimsical. The use of oil paint, with its capacity for smooth gradations and luminous effects, enhances this tension, a quality shared with surrealist painting traditions. Cheval takes these traditions and engages with them, demonstrating how materials, techniques, and concepts can come together to create something entirely new. Ultimately, “Affection” celebrates the transformative power of the imagination.