Twilight 2020

Monica Ikegwu made this painting, Twilight, with oils, and it’s all about light, or the absence of it, right? There is this tension between the darks and the lights that gives the whole painting a moody vibe, and the impasto brushstrokes of white paint in the background that seem to almost merge with the lilac, they're really fighting against each other. The subject’s face is brought forward out of this background through this dramatic spotlight, and you can see how the light pools on her skin, casting deep shadows around the eyes and nose. There's real control in the way the paint has been built up. These soft transitions aren’t easy to nail, let me tell you. Ikegwu’s work has some serious echoes of Barkley L. Hendricks, another painter who knew how to play with light and dark to make portraits that really pop, which is a really beautiful conversation to be a part of in art history.