Amiina 2013

Nieves Mingueza made this photograph, Amiina, using a monochrome palette to create an enigmatic figure in darkness. The entire piece is concerned with a photographic process, highlighting tone and form through a screen of visual noise. The work feels like a memory surfacing from deep within the mind's eye; the figure is out of focus and its features dissolve into the background. But, what remains is an intense contrast in the lower portion, two light orbs punctuate the darkness. Their intense brightness draws the eye and creates a focal point, while the shapes above this are open to interpretation. It reminds me of the quiet, subdued power of Gerhard Richter's blurred paintings, where the act of obscuring an image can make it more, not less, affecting.