Out Of Your Eclipse 

Curator: Troy Brooks presents us with "Out Of Your Eclipse," a striking figurative painting rendered with acrylic paints. What's your immediate reaction to it? Editor: Imprisonment, visually, I find the bars and the almost haunting red coloring both stark and unnerving. The reflection in her glasses suggests a longing for escape, maybe a fabricated fantasy? Curator: Brooks often incorporates those stylized female figures, often marked with exaggerated features that remind me of production line objects almost, always caught in a mix of glamour and some internal torment. Look closer, and think about the execution. Editor: Indeed. It appears the hand-crafting of the figure uses the paint in such a way as to highlight a contemporary reinterpretation of mannerism. The artist makes it all feel a bit ‘off’, not quite matching reality. Curator: I agree! And consider Brooks' choice of materials. The smooth finish of the acrylic creates a sort of artificial sheen that amplifies the surreal atmosphere, the way that those red frogs disrupt our eye movement. Do you find their presence a mere coincidence, or are they loaded with symbolism about her entrapment? Editor: I believe that the placement of those surreal inclusions, like the frogs, is not just stylistic. Semiotically, they add to a level of symbolic depth to the painting. Those frogs disrupt the symmetry. Curator: Absolutely! And think about how the reflections in the glasses and the object hanging to the top of the bars plays with notions of longing and reality. I am curious how all those production-like attributes contrast against the very hand-rendered craft of the figure within. It's that clash of fabrication versus labor that I find so intriguing in Brooks’ broader body of work. Editor: Very interesting! As a formal analysis, it offers a multi-layered study of light, form, and content, presenting us with a compelling narrative of yearning and a critique of artifice. It truly is a thought-provoking use of those formal elements. Curator: Agreed. Brooks uses those elements effectively.