Kid #2 2012

Carmen Delaco made this portrait, Kid #2, using what looks like a combination of paint and charcoal. It’s a head and shoulders, enclosed within a barely-there square. I’m thinking Delaco was really going after something here, scraping back and forth. I can see how the charcoal is almost scrubbed into the canvas, those blacks and grays pulled and pushed, finding the shape of a head. The face itself is all pinks and reds, and that ear has a serious blush – like, what’s he thinking? Maybe he’s mad, or just really concentrating hard on something, but it's a compelling painting for that reason. I like the way it’s not resolved, because that makes me feel like I’m in the studio with the artist. I wonder if, like me, Delaco is trying to make an image come alive through color and touch. It reminds me of other artists whose paintings seem to have a life of their own.