When the Going Is Smooth and Good 2017

Njideka Akunyili Crosby made this beautiful painting, "When the Going Is Smooth and Good," and it feels like a memory unfolding. The figures are caught in a web of collage, a dance of images that must have been a real challenge to compose. I can imagine Crosby piecing together these fragments, building up layers of meaning and texture. Look at the way the figures are both present and dissolving into the background. The man’s patterned clothing and the wallpaper almost merge. It gives everything an ephemeral quality like a dream or a half-remembered photograph. It’s interesting how the artist’s approach is both deeply personal and engaged with broader cultural narratives. You can see how other painters have handled similar themes of identity, memory, and displacement, yet Crosby’s vision feels entirely her own. I love how she balances the specificity of her experiences with a universal sense of longing and belonging. It’s about making sense of the past, one brushstroke at a time.