Woman is Sewing 1972

Ivan Generalic painted 'Woman is Sewing' at an unknown date, though I imagine him carefully applying each layer of oil paint onto the canvas. It's so methodically rendered, and feels like it’s been built up from repeated acts of looking, describing, and mark-making. I love how the red cow, the chickens, and the woman are arranged. There is a playful juxtaposition between the foreground and background. It feels like a stage set. Generalic's process is evident in the painting's textures and colours, the way he painstakingly depicts the thatched roofs and farmyard animals. What does the bright red cow mean? How does the flat almost cartoon-like perspective relate to other self-taught artists like Grandma Moses? I love how artists working in their own way can have a conversation through time, inspiring each other's creativity. Ultimately, painting embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations.