Katja’s summer 2020

Curator: Nick Alm’s 2020 painting, "Katja's Summer," presents us with a contemplative figure rendered in oil. It seems steeped in impressionistic plein-air techniques, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Absolutely. My initial impression is one of bleached-out tranquility. The entire composition is muted, the figure almost dissolving into the landscape. It gives it a dreamy quality. Curator: Alm seems quite interested in revisiting familiar themes within contemporary figurative art. We see echoes of past plein air painters who prioritized working en plein air. How does the artist employ those themes today, considering the institutional and cultural context of its creation? Editor: Well, considering that Alm works primarily with oil paint, a medium historically associated with the canon, he seems to be playing with a tension. It has implications around labor as well, the slow process speaking to pre-industrial practices yet finding itself situated in the 21st century market. Note the light though. You feel like you can feel the heat because he has created this atmosphere on canvas through manipulating that very same medium, but he does not romanticize this subject as much as other impressionists of past decades. It is still modern through this almost muted tone. Curator: Interesting. The choice of the white dress and parasol, while timeless, also touches on questions of representation. How do we view these figures in relation to our understanding of idealized femininity as constructed through painting, past and present? The cultural significance shifts over time, but those connotations never really vanish. Editor: Precisely. This interplay between light and form highlights, even while subduing. The dress, likely linen or cotton, dictates much of the experience too. Each deliberate use of those specific materials adds complexity, shaping the audience's perspective. If we examine the relationship between labor, materials, and how that image is consumed it seems there may be multiple viewpoints depending on one's proximity to those commodities in that historical timeframe. Curator: Yes, and by placing Katja against that expanse of shimmering water, Alm evokes a feeling of both freedom and perhaps a slight melancholic isolation. It’s almost as though she is caught between worlds. Editor: Exactly. There’s a push and pull to it, a gentle invitation. Considering the process-driven execution, this kind of figuration presents viewers a chance to reflect not just on the final product but on how materials, time, and action form a cohesive experience. Curator: A very thoughtful observation; looking closer now, this tension creates something deeply resonant in Nick Alm's work. Editor: Agreed. It is one small fragment of beauty to get lost within.