Lamina 2019

Editor: So, here we have Mary Jane Ansell's "Lamina" from 2019, a painting blending the figure with floral elements. It's got this dreamlike, almost haunting quality to it. What strikes you most when you look at this piece? Curator: Well, immediately I'm struck by how Ansell plays with historical portraiture. This woman, framed by flowers, seems to evoke both Romantic ideals and a very modern sensibility. Consider the power dynamics at play in historical portraiture – who gets immortalized and how? Editor: That's fascinating! The way you frame it, the floral elements, so often associated with the feminine, take on a completely different weight. Curator: Exactly! And consider the institutional framework. Historically, portraits were commissioned by the elite. Here, Ansell seems to subvert that. She offers us a contemporary take on the male gaze by highlighting traditional signifiers such as classical features. Editor: The lighting and composition feels both familiar and challenging at the same time, could it be because we've seen art interpreted by those powerful societal forces? Curator: Precisely. Who dictates the narrative, who shapes the perception? How does our understanding of "beauty" get manufactured and sustained in museum culture, art history books? She doesn’t so much reject the past, but seems interested in disrupting the ways that traditional structures in place define cultural expression. Editor: This is a truly new understanding. Thank you for this wonderful approach! Curator: Thank you! Thinking about the power of historical context really gives a much more nuanced way of viewing a piece, don’t you agree?