Lamia 1920

Here's a spooky scene that Georgi Mashev conjured with oil paint. There's a rider and a horse galloping through the night and a creature with wings is in pursuit. I wonder what Mashev was thinking as he painted the scene, layer upon layer. You can see how the surface and the texture of the painting makes the whole scene shimmer. The painterly strokes – like the marks in the sky – really give the sense of wind and movement. There is a feeling of turbulence, both physical and psychological, and I'm sure he thought about all sorts of painters from history as he made it. That's the beauty of painting, it's an ongoing conversation, a way of thinking and seeing. The more you look, the more it speaks, even if it whispers.