Wedding 2002

Editor: Here we have Jennifer Bartlett's "Wedding" from 2002, a mixed-media work incorporating painting and acrylics. I’m struck by its vibrant chaos - it feels almost celebratory in a very abstract way. What do you make of this piece? Curator: It does burst, doesn’t it? Like confetti. For me, Bartlett's abstraction here feels like a memory trying to form – fragmented, colorful, and joyous, but just out of reach. The dots almost seem to coalesce into figures, perhaps guests, but never quite solidify, much like fleeting moments at a wedding. Do you get that sense of ephemeral presence too? Editor: I see that! Like you're catching glimpses rather than getting a clear picture. And the geometric pattern, while consistent, has this wonderful irregularity. How intentional do you think that contrast is? Curator: Ah, that tension! I think it's highly deliberate. Bartlett often played with systems and grids, only to then disrupt them with emotion. She's saying life, even in structured events like weddings, is ultimately unpredictable, full of joyous chaos. It is as if life emerges, like those colorful figures, from within some greater structural frame. The bending purple form beneath the painted panel? That too could represent a structured space beginning to give way, no? Editor: I never thought of that curved piece in that way – almost like the structure is buckling under the weight of all those emotions. So, in the end, this painting is both a record and a meditation. Curator: Precisely! Perhaps a deeply personal one, even. Editor: I definitely see this painting differently now, I may consider mixing mediums now. Thank you.