Sisters 1967

Curator: Let's take a moment to appreciate Vilen Barsky’s "Sisters," a mixed-media portrait completed in 1967. He primarily worked with acrylic and canvas to make this. Editor: It's really intriguing, isn’t it? My immediate sense is a ghostly tenderness, a softness bordering on the ethereal. It makes me wonder if the texture itself is a kind of veil. Curator: Absolutely. The impasto technique is incredibly pronounced here; the physicality of the paint is so thick, it is nearly sculptural. Think of the artist deliberately building layers— laboriously creating volume, literally constructing the forms from heaps of acrylic. This emphasizes the manual creation and physicality embedded in Barsky’s creative work. Editor: The faces, though somewhat obscured, seem to carry a burden of shared memory. Are those lines suggestive of tears, perhaps, emphasizing suffering? Or are they ritualistic markings? Perhaps the artist references shared grief? Curator: It's open to interpretation, I believe. But notice the use of a rather subdued palette. He appears to have applied primarily pinks and beiges. Barsky really restricted himself to earthy, fleshy tones here, bringing it all together through careful labor. This contrasts starkly to many contemporary paintings being made. It creates the overall sense of serenity. Editor: That restriction serves to highlight what IS present. We find, for example, two very distinct, almost shadowed silhouettes. This evokes an unsettling intimacy between the two figures, as though they're almost too close, almost merging. Perhaps suggesting both their shared identity but also their potential loss of individuality? Curator: That may be. It challenges us to really observe the raw materials that brought them into existence. Without access to advanced modern acrylic-based mediums, the canvas, and the skillful application, there would simply be no portrait, no two subjects. Editor: So, we started by describing texture and materials, but dove deep into possible significances: the relationship between these sisters and their burden, but it began simply with Barsky’s creative decisions. Curator: Yes. It really shows how attention to production methods is equally capable of influencing emotional interpretations of the work.