Maya with boat 1938

Picasso’s *Maya with Boat* is a 61 by 46 cm painting that depicts his daughter, Maya, holding a toy boat. Look how Picasso puts together this kid's face with bright color blocks; the painting must have come into being through intuition. I can see how he was feeling the kid out, trying to figure out her essence—the colors are more than just colors, they’re about feeling. What was he thinking, painting his own daughter this way? It’s interesting how painting can bring you closer to the subject, but also keep you at a distance, right? You build someone up, layer by layer, color by color, until they become something else, something new. It reminds me of other painters who get at something essential, or at least, they are in search of that. Artists are always in conversation, it’s an ongoing exchange of ideas. Painting is an embodied expression that allows for multiple ways of thinking and feeling about the world.