Nimfen 1923

This piece is called 'Nimfen', made by James Ensor, but the year it was made is not known. The way he’s applied these colors makes me think about painting as something you almost excavate. The surface is really worked; it’s got this gnarly texture, almost like a fresco that’s been aging for centuries. The blues and purples around the edges are so rich, but they’re also kind of crusty, as if they’ve been through something. And then there are these circular marks in the center; like ghostly, pale echoes of figures. I keep thinking about how you can see the history of the artist’s hand in this piece. Ensor really lets you see the process, and there’s a vulnerability in that. To me, it’s reminiscent of the way Guston used to build up his surfaces, layer after layer, until the painting became this kind of archaeological site. It's a reminder that art is never really finished, it's always evolving, like an ongoing conversation.