the end of the last unicorn 2015

Jana Brike made "the end of the last unicorn" with oils, layer upon layer, maybe even glazing. You can feel that slow build up. I can only imagine Brike standing there in her studio, brush in hand, thinking about those awkward years when girlhood starts to fade. The surface is smooth, almost like skin, and the colors are muted, creating a dreamy, melancholic mood. And that unicorn tattoo—a child's drawing, so naive and permanent all at once. You can see the blue ink on the girl’s skin, which gives the whole scene a feeling of innocence lost, or maybe transformed into a symbol. That line quality seems to suggest the work of other fairy tale painters like Paula Rego, whose paintings also get into the darker side of childhood. Artists are always bouncing ideas off each other, creating a visual conversation across time. It makes you think about how we hold onto those childish things, even when we know they can’t last forever.