Imprint 

Curator: What a striking work. We're looking at "Imprint" by Sarah Joncas, an acrylic painting that features a contemporary portrait. What are your initial impressions? Editor: There's an immediate sense of serenity, wouldn't you say? The subdued color palette, the almost photographic realism of the figure… Yet there is an undeniable disjunction. What do you read into the title given the imagery? Curator: The "imprint" speaks volumes about the complex relationship between human subjects and the environment. I would suggest we see her figure in connection with consumer culture; consider Joncas's other portraits. This layering and masking also evokes themes of societal and environmental damage, with the artist perhaps asking viewers to think about their "imprint," too. Editor: True. There is, certainly, a symbolic density in the relationship of form. If you look closely, you'll observe the ways the tree limbs seem to coalesce with her features, as if nature and the human figure have begun a process of interpenetration. It reminds me of certain aspects of symbolism. I am curious how she chose these exact tones; their delicate variations are not common. Curator: Consider that she uses acrylics. We can't ignore the impact that choice of materiality has on distribution and sales and her market as a whole. The flat matte nature of acrylic lends itself well to digital reproduction, a factor that enhances distribution and visibility in the online art market and that impacts artist remuneration and production decisions, as Joncas would be fully aware. Editor: Yes, certainly. Yet I think to focus primarily on the mode of its distribution minimizes how masterfully this image achieves an almost dreamlike state. The diffuse light, that almost ethereal quality of her skin...The tree has almost consumed her, yet in consumption we notice she has taken on properties of the tree; she is partly revealed in its shape. I also read subtle traces of Art Nouveau in the stylized rendering of nature's form. Curator: Very good. Overall, this artwork demonstrates the powerful synergy that arises from blending these processes. In this piece, there's that careful negotiation of both tradition and the reality of twenty-first-century creative production. Editor: Precisely. It seems the more we reflect, the more we observe. What I appreciate most is the open invitation Joncas' work gives us to ponder this convergence of identity and place, or identity and its ecological predicament.