Assumption of a Woman 2020

Editor: Right, next up we have Harmonia Rosales' "Assumption of a Woman," painted in 2020. Looking at this painting, I feel immediately transported. The figures are powerful, almost ethereal. What draws your eye when you first look at it? Curator: The upward thrust! There's such a feeling of liberation, wouldn't you agree? I’m completely taken by how Rosales takes this iconic, almost tired Renaissance trope – the assumption of the Virgin – and infuses it with such vital, brown, female energy. It's like she’s saying, "Hey, let's reclaim this narrative." I wonder what she wants us to feel. Editor: Reclaim is a great word here. It certainly does prompt me to think differently. Is she saying something about power and who gets to hold it? Curator: Exactly! Look at their faces – this quiet determination. It’s a strong riposte. Rosales often uses Yoruba cosmology and mythology as a springboard; I feel that adds even another layer, giving us a whole other set of creation stories, a whole other set of female archetypes to embrace. Editor: That is super interesting. It's amazing how simply reframing the Virgin Mary can create such a statement. The figures also seem weightless despite their powerful builds. What do you think of that contradiction? Curator: Ah, the delicious contradiction of it all! I believe Rosales cleverly utilizes oil and acrylic to achieve this lightness. You're suspended in the sky and the paint allows it. I wonder if she's challenging those historical painters who made their subjects of color so earthy and ponderous, weighed down by the woes of the world. This painting flips all that. It asks to consider that liberation is a thing, is a fact. It is an ascension, rather than the constant weight. What do you take away now? Editor: I see it so differently! I feel a stronger sense of... optimism, and also a bit of righteous anger directed at past artistic conventions! It's about challenging the gaze. Curator: Exactly! It’s those layers, those whispers of revolution, that make this painting unforgettable, right?