Children With no Name VI 2008

Carmen Delaco made "Children With No Name VI" with paint, but when, we don't know. I like to imagine the making of this picture, the artist's hand moving, taking its time, layering—maybe lots of layers, maybe very quick! The child's face and body emerge out of brushstrokes. I'm struck by the grayness, the grittiness, that feels heavy. It's as if the paint is searching for something. It’s a bit like how I feel when I'm painting, a kind of groping in the dark, trusting that something will come. I see touches of warmth, pinks and reds. They create this push and pull—the sadness and a tenderness. The hands clasped together, what's that about? Delaco must be thinking about other pictures of children, the history of that subject, and making a painting about children in our own time. We all swim in the same sea of images, and when we make our own work, we bring something new to the conversation.