Sliver 2022

Monica Ikegwu made this evocative painting, *Sliver*. I see the color orange used to paint a geometric frame that descends vertically, bisecting the face of the sitter. I love to imagine what it must have been like to be Ikegwu making this. A dialogue unfolds between line and form, between the flat geometric and the softness of skin. The orange mark is like an architectural intervention that has been photoshopped into the image. It sits boldly, confidently, over the painting, forcing us to see both the surface and what lies beneath. It reminds me of some of the ways other painters use hard-edged lines to interrupt a picture plane, like a meditation on how much or how little to reveal. And in this way, Ikegwu opens up an ongoing exchange of ideas around painting, inspiring us to see the world in new ways. Painting can really embrace ambiguity, leaving room for multiple readings.