Origin Story 2022

Editor: So, we’re looking at "Origin Story," a 2022 oil painting by Rose Freymuth-Frazier. It immediately strikes me as an archetypal landscape, the kind you might see in a dream. What historical or cultural forces do you see shaping a piece like this? Curator: The choice of *plein air*, a key tenet of Impressionism, suggests a desire to capture the immediate and transient effects of light and atmosphere. But how does this impulse toward immediacy align, or perhaps conflict, with a title suggesting foundational narratives, “Origin Story?” The title infuses this seemingly simple landscape with a heavy socio-political narrative that the style maybe doesn’t lend itself towards on the surface. Editor: That’s fascinating! I hadn't thought about that inherent tension between capturing a fleeting moment and representing something foundational. Is that something artists grapple with consciously? Curator: I believe it can depend greatly on their artistic training. Artists are acutely aware of the visual language they employ. In our current age, one must reflect on who is invited or excluded from idyllic landscapes. How are ideas of access being portrayed here? Considering what narratives are built and who or what is reflected in these origin stories becomes just as important. Do you agree? Editor: Definitely. Now I see that a romantic landscape in today’s cultural environment raises all sorts of questions about accessibility and representation that maybe it didn’t a century ago. Curator: Precisely. And I am particularly compelled by its tension that, by depicting nature with such luminous beauty, this painting gestures at something sublime that's continuously altered. Editor: This really makes me rethink what it means to engage with landscape paintings today! Thanks. Curator: My pleasure. Thinking through this work together revealed more nuances to me, too.