Gaurdian Angel 

Editor: Here we have "Guardian Angel" by Michael C. Hayes. The artwork appears to be a painting, possibly oil, showing a winged female figure clad in armour. It has a kind of…powerful, almost otherworldly presence. What strikes you when you look at this piece? Curator: The figure's construction—consider the probable use of models, costuming, the physical act of applying paint to achieve the effects of light on metal, wings, and skin. It points towards an almost collaborative, labor-intensive production process. What kind of work went into producing the different material elements within the painting? Editor: That's interesting. I was mostly focused on the figure itself. Are you saying that the depiction of the materials matters more than the symbolic content? Curator: Not "more," but perhaps *differently.* We can consider the cultural status of the materials depicted. Gold and armor suggest wealth and power, but it is a specific type of stylized wealth that is created with an explicit awareness of consumer culture within fantasy art, thus drawing connections between how cultural capital is constructed and performed. Do you see the possible connection between the creation of this piece and mass market? Editor: Yes, I think I do. The artist isn't just expressing an individual vision, they are working within and contributing to a specific market and cultural context, constructing wealth in connection with contemporary ideals. It makes me wonder who they were producing the work *for*. Curator: Exactly. Reflecting on that gives a more grounded view to how art participates with cultural economy and ideology, it challenges the usual understanding that we're experiencing something purely transcendental when looking at "Fantasy Art". Editor: I never really considered art like this through the lens of labour and market so it really shed a new light onto the consumption of artistic practice. Thank you.