Campfire No.1 2019

Zoe Hawk made this enigmatic picture, Campfire No.1, sometime in the 20th century, using layers of oil paint to conjure a twilight scene. The way she builds up the color feels both deliberate and open, letting the eye wander through the different zones. I’m drawn to the handling of paint in the young woman's dress, see how the strokes of pink and orange glow against the darker background, like light from the campfire flickering across the fabric. It's not about perfect realism, but about capturing a feeling, a mood. The flags she holds—what message do they send? There's a tension between the warm, inviting colors and the somewhat serious expression on her face. Hawk reminds me a little of Balthus, in her ability to create these charged, ambiguous narratives that leave you with more questions than answers. Ultimately, it's about embracing the mystery, and accepting that art doesn't always need to spell everything out for us.