Koi Ballet 2017

Terri Kelly Moyers made this painting of koi carp, sometime in the 20th century, I guess. Look at that painterly surface! It’s all about the dance between control and letting go. The textures here are just lovely. The way the brushstrokes capture the movement of water, those swirls and eddies, but then there’s a stillness in the lily pads. See how the light catches the edges, making them almost glow? And those koi themselves, shimmering with colour. It's not just about painting fish, but about capturing the feeling of being underwater, of the light and the life that exists there. I am drawn to the lower left corner, to that one white and orange patterned fish, twisting its body, caught in the light. Reminds me of the Impressionists, especially Monet's water lilies. But Moyers brings her own sensibility, a kind of playful energy, to the subject. Art's always like that, a conversation across time, where artists riff off each other, adding their own voices to the mix.