From The Dark 2020

Editor: We’re looking at “From the Dark,” a painting by Martine Johanna from 2020. The figure seems suspended in this really deep blackness. She's blowing these tiny, red hearts from her hands, but her eyes are closed. It feels both romantic and melancholy at the same time. What do you make of it? Curator: Melancholy… yes, I feel that too. It's like she's releasing something precious, but with a touch of sorrow, wouldn't you agree? It’s beautifully bittersweet. Perhaps, she's letting go of past loves, transforming that energy into something new? What I also find intriguing is the contrast between the warmth of the figure and the cold, inky backdrop. It really amplifies that feeling of introspection, doesn't it? Editor: Absolutely, and I love how the colors almost seem to glow. It makes the whole image feel very dreamlike. Curator: Dreams are so telling! Johanna seems to use color here almost as a symbolic language; those fiery reds against that void really scream about buried desires. It also calls to mind earlier portrait traditions – Renaissance chiaroscuro, for example - but subverted through a more modern, emotive lens. Have you thought about that? Editor: Not initially, but I see it now! So it's kind of like she's both honouring and remixing art history? Curator: Precisely! And for me, it asks this lovely question, a very important one at that - aren't we all constantly reshaping what's been inherited, through the prism of our unique selves, in both light and dark ways? I love when artwork does that! Editor: Wow, I hadn’t considered all that. It’s so much more than just a pretty picture now. Curator: Isn’t it always? And isn't it incredible when we look deeper and a painting whispers back stories within stories?!