Mermaid 2020

Curator: Alright, let’s dive into "Mermaid" by Vincent Xeus, created in 2020. It’s rendered with oil paint, giving it that luminous quality. What's your initial take? Editor: Ethereal. Almost ghostly. The palette is very muted, dominated by greens and whites. It feels... unfinished, like a fleeting vision captured on canvas. Are those hints of watercolor, too? Curator: It has that quality, doesn’t it? Xeus plays with textures, that sense of almost-there detail. The listed tags point to gouache, which would add to that dreamy haze and complement the oil's luminescence. The composition, her looking downward, is very subtle. Editor: Definitely subtle. It’s interesting how he depicts the female form. It’s not overtly sexualized. It feels more like an exploration of light and form, the way those cool greens caress her skin. What can you tell me about the method that allows to create it? Curator: Absolutely, and it’s Xeus' touch, in my opinion. The soft brushstrokes, that sense of dissolving into the background... almost as if the mermaid is becoming one with her environment. Editor: You can almost feel the process here, layer upon layer of pigment, built from scratch. The use of oil feels relevant because of how labor-intensive painting it is. In contrast to something as instant as a photograph, the slow accretion of marks underlines the process of her self-emergence from paint and pigment. I'm sure it goes against realism as a tag though... Curator: Precisely. "Realism" feels almost too firm a term. I'd call it idealized realism with symbolism: water is both origin and a promise. What would a materialist interpretation of "origin" sound to you? Editor: If water here serves as this birth-giver medium, then the choice of the model is paramount for it to work as a feminist or materialist approach. This takes me away from believing on a more romantic point of view. The way in which the author depicts it goes away with social problems. It's pure intention. Curator: Yes, in a way she's emerging from and returning to herself—kind of a self-contained world, right? What is the best way for this discussion to evolve now? Editor: Perhaps delving deeper into the stylistic influences... but maybe that's a path for another time. Thanks! Curator: Agreed. A journey for another day!