2014 04 10 17.07.05 

Curator: We’re looking at Jimmy Ortiz's piece, simply titled "2014 04 10 17.07.05," a powerful statement rendered in acrylic. Editor: My first impression is one of raw emotion – that sky is like a burning horizon, and the jagged lines give it a certain weight, like impending change. Curator: The choice of red and the apparent gestural brushstrokes in the sky indeed evoke intense feelings. Considering its historical context, one might interpret this vibrant, almost violent skyscape, contrasted with the striated lower field, as reflective of environmental anxieties pervasive in the 21st century. Editor: Yes, but it also triggers a deep-seated symbolism. The red evokes primal connections to fire and blood – and that sharply contrasted dark, almost skeletal line against the burning hues reads as desolation. We have seen those contrasts again and again in cultural memory related to loss. Curator: Certainly, these interpretations can also be situated within feminist theory – one might read that contrast as gendered tensions played out upon a broader social canvas, perhaps suggesting ways power is inscribed onto our perception of space itself. The lower part appears grounded – it seems to contain and solidify emotion. Editor: I read that grounded layer quite differently! To me, it echoes the ancient use of layered space to demarcate between realms; a horizontal division akin to earth and sky, presence and transcendence. Curator: That echoes the way landscapes have been weaponized as symbols of nationhood and dispossession throughout modernity, underscoring its politicized representation in contemporary culture. We may consider this work in conjunction with works created around periods of ecological disaster and displacement. Editor: And speaking of place, isn't it compelling how the artist uses what appears to be repetitive marks to almost suggest time? Layering as memory – not just in its artistic method, but what the artwork evokes from within. Curator: The matter painting certainly engages, like Arte Povera and Land Art did, to suggest that our environment's relationship to time is also its relationship with culture, history, gender and social relations. It is also possible to trace similar emotional mapping of abstracted environments through the work of Black artists who dealt with spatial marginalization. Editor: A fruitful conversation! By looking at the sky above and land below – what is contained within this symbolic horizon, a reflection on where we’ve come from, and perhaps, where we are going? Curator: Exactly. And to consider the power structures implicated within. These intersections demand our constant and critical re-evaluation.