Untitled 2017

Editor: This is an “Untitled” piece by Lucy Ivanova from 2017, made with mixed media including acrylic paint. I find it calming, almost dreamlike, with its soft blues and hazy composition. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Well, let’s consider the materiality first. The combination of acrylic and mixed media suggests an interest in process and layering. Acrylic allows for quick build-up, while “mixed media” invites found materials, collage elements – a deconstruction of painting itself. Editor: Deconstruction, interesting. What do you mean by that exactly? Curator: Traditionally, painting has been a singular, unified surface. This artist seems to be challenging that idea by introducing other material elements that question the painting as an object. Consider also the 'Untitled' nature; it refrains from ascribing the artwork a pre-defined context. Editor: I see, so it’s about pushing against the boundaries of what a painting *should* be. Curator: Exactly. The abstraction allows Ivanova to explore these material possibilities, not just depict a subject. It moves us away from pictorial representation. This process also involves labour – the physical act of layering, adding, and potentially obscuring elements of everyday experience and industrial by-products that reflect contemporary experience in general. Editor: That's given me a new appreciation for it. I initially just saw the dreamy colours. Curator: Colour is definitely part of the whole. Yet, it is important to observe how materiality and artistic practice enhance colours and give an intimate, yet material presence to the work. I see more than a beautiful picture here.