Judgement 

Curator: This striking image is titled "Judgement" by Sarah Joncas. There is no specific date associated with the work, though Joncas is known for her contemporary surrealist paintings. What stands out to you immediately? Editor: A kind of ethereal tension. The figure appears to be a winged, almost angelic woman, but there's a solemnity to her expression. It doesn't feel celebratory like a typical angelic image. Curator: I agree. Joncas often explores themes of transformation and identity in her work. This piece, done with acrylic paint, merges a classical angelic figure with elements that disrupt the traditional associations. The inclusion of butterflies, a symbol of metamorphosis, flitting around suggests deeper themes. I'm drawn to the waves too – very suggestive. Editor: Exactly! The waves introduce an element of chaos or perhaps the unconscious, something primal. What’s your view of the flag on her horn with the red cross? And the way it appears to unfurl behind the bell? It seems loaded with symbolic import and cultural baggage, ripe for scrutiny within the contemporary sociopolitical frame. Curator: Flags have power and can signal any nation, political view, or cultural shift. The fact it looks almost casually placed onto her horn, might undermine what we understand of the object on which it’s placed and challenge long standing power systems. What do you make of that muted color palette in that context, given art history's associations with muted hues in pre-modern, largely Eurocentric contexts? Editor: It subverts traditional beauty standards, challenging our expectations of the angelic and divine. The pale skin and somber eyes hint at vulnerability. It prompts a questioning of those very ideals, which I see as central to decolonising how we view beauty through historical representation. Curator: Her expression is far from the traditional blissful seraphim; rather there’s an almost haunted quality. Editor: Absolutely. The painting confronts our preconceptions of judgement. The butterflies around the wave suggest movement but towards an uncertain place. Not one of eternal reward perhaps, more something…unstable? Curator: Indeed. The blending of beauty, sorrow, the earthly and the divine offers us a fresh perspective on reckoning and transition. Editor: Joncas gives us something that transcends dogma and allows a personal, internal navigation of significant transition and wider cultural reckoning.