The Chariot 2020

Curator: Zoe Hawk's 2020 oil painting, "The Chariot," is striking. It shows a young woman with her bicycle flanked by two cats in what appears to be a quiet neighborhood. What captures your attention first? Editor: Immediately, I’m drawn to the dress—the stars are so dominant. It’s intensely American but feels deliberately naive. There's an almost propagandistic vibe, yet…dreamy. Curator: You know, the stars, for me, evoke more personal narratives, almost a celestial mapping of her journey. Dresses, in her work, often are codes, visual signifiers about transformation and interior worlds. The bicycle? What stories does that tell you? Editor: A bit clichéd, but a machine for freedom? I sense constraint too, because the cats are literally blocking her chariot’s path. Those cats! The stark dichotomy of black and white... good and evil, night and day... maybe she is frozen on the edge of something unknown. Curator: Ah, but are they obstacles? The black cat is traditionally mysterious and perhaps represents hidden parts of the self, or destiny even; while the white is seen pureness or innocence, Maybe they're guardians on the road to her true self. It all hinges on her expression, doesn't it? The averted gaze, slightly melancholy... Editor: Absolutely. I am seeing less naivety now. Look at that backdrop, those repetitive house forms, almost like a stage set for something ominous... And those puffy clouds seem to hint at impending turbulence. Her ‘chariot’ is stationary, at a crossroads. Curator: Crossroads are ripe with choice. Hawk's works always makes me wonder about her stories, those hidden narratives which make a place not just a location, but a felt and lived experience. Maybe "The Chariot" shows we carry the stars within ourselves, mapping our way home, wherever that is. Editor: Indeed, maybe what is real to one is always veiled for another. Art as invitation, right? Makes one want to create some symbols themselves.