Caroline 

Curator: Before us is Daniel Greene’s oil painting, titled "Caroline." Editor: My first impression is one of serene strength. There's an understated power in her gaze, yet a certain softness in the overall composition. I want to know her story. Curator: Well, looking at the painting itself, note the materiality of the piece. The thick, visible brushstrokes, especially in the background, hint at the labor and the active process of its creation. The texture invites tactile investigation. Editor: I see it. It’s interesting how that materiality contrasts with the classical approach to portraiture; there’s that tension of bringing older academic painting to contemporary sensibilities around accessibility and the labor of production. Curator: Exactly. And think about Greene's technical skill. His masterful blending of pigments creates depth and volume while calling attention to the materials in play, it begs the question of what and how we choose our methods of fabrication. Editor: Absolutely, and socially, what does it mean to represent a person in this way, giving Caroline a position, a way to express herself and potentially speak back? Note her jewelry and dress - objects speaking to a consumer culture as it represents beauty? Curator: Her choice to wear these items is very much telling to self expression within the painting, it calls to how and why do we fabricate certain adornments, why glass beads or metals, how and why are the created. The red fabric and choice of placement on the sitter’s body and in turn the paintings subject. Editor: The power relations within art historically is important; to think about Greene depicting "Caroline" suggests their social and economic locations intersected at a certain historical juncture, the materials suggesting something of Caroline and Daniel’s relation, a social study of power through materiality in a way that has impact today. Curator: It leaves us with this: can we truly know who we were trying to portray, it shows both us the object of Caroline, as a concept, or is the focus really that we can only try to objectify those we are studying, we only study with pretense or assumption. The materials only enhance what one can attempt to touch but never obtain, the true person or true context. Editor: Greene’s Caroline offers a glimpse into a world both familiar and elusive, a beautiful portrait imbued with socio-political weight, leaving us considering how portraits in general attempt to speak across boundaries.