Home Alone 2018

Monica Ikegwu’s *Home Alone* shows the figure of a young woman resting on a yellow sofa. You get the sense that Ikegwu is really thinking through the act of painting, about the way the light glances across the space of a room. The light is so evocative of that kind of afternoon feeling, like a teenager at home, bored maybe. And the shadow looming on the wall behind her is such an interesting shape! When you look at the figure’s face it’s hard to know what she’s thinking. The artist’s really captured that feeling of introspection, which can be so hard to express. You get the sense that Ikegwu is looking at other painters and learning all the time. For me, that’s what painting is all about: looking, thinking, and pushing yourself to see things in new ways.