The Craddle 2020

Curator: It's funny, my immediate response is drowsiness. It has a quality of sleepy surrender, and a dash of something wild around the edges. Editor: Indeed! We’re looking at Jana Brike’s "The Cradle," an oil painting created in 2020. Brike, known for her blend of Romanticism and fantasy, invites us into a space that feels both dreamlike and intensely personal. The subject appears to be nestled between floral ornamentation and what looks like wolves or wolf-like dogs. What does that make you feel? Curator: Calm and yet maybe a little sad? The flowers around her face, one actually placed right into the corner of her eye, and the dreamy state – it hints at the vulnerability and fragility we carry within us and how sometimes those need safe protection in a sort of melancholic hibernation. Editor: I read that protection as resistance too. Think about the symbolism of the wolf, often demonized but also revered across cultures as a symbol of independence, resilience, and a deep connection to the natural world. The flowers disrupt any expectation of conventional beauty; some seem to obscure or even challenge the viewer's gaze, which to me says something about reclaiming narratives and challenging established, and, frankly, patriarchal, views of femininity. The detail is incredibly rich and complex. Curator: The tapestry on her bodice certainly looks like traditional ornamentation... It could signify an appeal to roots, to ancient female knowledge? Though I’d argue, even if there is a political statement to it, that "patriarchal view of femininity" you mention, the painting mostly speaks of a singular intimate inner realm where resistance takes a back seat, if just for a nap, to a surrender of sorts to dreaming. There's beauty in the passivity it transmits. Editor: That’s an interesting reading! Maybe the personal IS political here and Jana Brike lets us into both, asking if these need to oppose each other in the first place? It really does offer up endless interpretations. Curator: And endless spaces to wander around with your thoughts, half asleep, half alert. A very welcome invitation.