Antiope 2018

Mary Jane Ansell’s “Antiope,” is a recent painting of a figure that’s emerged from a world of mythology and fashion, rendered in a muted palette of creams and grays. I wonder what it was like for Ansell to create this—layering the paint to build up the textures of fur and fabric, those spiraling horns. The artist's hand, coaxing detail from shadow. Look at the way the light catches the model's face. That gaze feels both modern and ancient. There’s this dance between realism and something more surreal. Ansell builds on traditions of portraiture, but then turns it on its head, giving us something totally new, right? It reminds me of other painters who’ve blurred the lines between fantasy and reality, like Remedios Varo, maybe. It's like they're all talking to each other across time. “Antiope” shows how painting can be a space for invention, where the artist's imagination invites us to question what we see and how we see it.