Ebbs and Flows and the Boygod 2017

Jana Brike made this painting, 'Ebbs and Flows and the Boygod' with oil paint. It's incredibly detailed. The artist is a master, for sure. The boy is painted with smooth gradients of color to create almost a photographic realism, and has a fishing rod across his shoulders. I can just imagine Brike making tiny adjustments to the surface, building up thin layers of paint, glazing over them, and then going back to finesse the details. It's an exquisite, if slightly unsettling, image, with something darker lurking beneath the surface. Like a dream, you just can't shake. The garlands of water lilies and the fluttering butterflies feel lighter than air, adding to the symbolic and surreal quality of the image. It makes me think about how different forms of painting can offer new ways of seeing and experiencing the world. Painters today are always responding to the painters who came before, creating new dialogues across time.