The veil 2021

Martine Johanna made The Veil with oils, probably applying thin layers to get the effect of light glowing from underneath. The artist must have been thinking about veils, both literal and metaphorical. It’s like the surface of the painting *is* the veil. Imagine her building up the colors, the reds and oranges, trying to capture the way light filters through a thin fabric. There’s a push and pull between showing and concealing. I feel her working back and forth, adding and subtracting, trying to get the face just right behind that veil. I love the way the paint handles the nose and mouth with such precision, then dissolves into a kind of dreamy haze around the edges. It reminds me of other figurative painters trying to capture a likeness while also hinting at something beyond the surface. In art, it is always about looking and seeing, and looking again!