Her Power 2012

David Michael Hinnebusch made this artwork called ‘Her Power’ with paint on canvas. I love the way the painting is built up from these wild, bold strokes of reds and blues. You can feel the artist wrestling with the image, trying to capture a fleeting expression. I imagine Hinnebusch attacking the canvas, layering the paint, scraping it back, and adding more until, boom, this amazing face emerges. That red hair is just fantastic, a mass of curls and scribbles. And look at the figure’s eye, how it stares right back at you, like she knows something you don’t! The painting is so alive with energy, you can sense the artist’s own excitement and emotion. It reminds me of some of those raw, expressive portraits by Alice Neel, where the artist isn’t afraid to show the messiness of life. Painting is an ongoing conversation across generations.