Look Who Came to Us ... 2002

Vlada Ralko made this painting, Look Who Came to Us …, using confident brushstrokes and a brave, yet limited, colour palette. The way she’s handled the paint really speaks to me about artmaking as a process, not just a product. There’s something about the material aspect of this work, the textures and the physicality of the paint, that really grabs me. It looks like the paint has been applied thinly in parts, almost translucent, and then built up in other areas, giving it depth and dimension. I love how the pink hues of the figure contrast with the cool blue background. See the gesture of the brushstrokes around the figure’s head? The way the red paint bleeds into the white, creating this sense of movement and energy reminds me of Francis Bacon and the way he could capture the raw, visceral energy of the human form. Ralko’s work feels like an ongoing conversation with artists of the past, but with her own unique voice and perspective. The ambiguity of the piece invites so many possible interpretations, and that's what makes art so exciting.