Sanny 2 2021

Gazmend Freitag made "Sanny 2", an oil painting, sometime around 2021. The colors are muted, earthy – like digging in the garden, but then finding something tender and alive. Freitag isn’t trying to hide anything. You can see the brushstrokes building up the form, like little additive sculptures, especially in the dark mass behind the figure. It’s thick but transparent in places. I wonder if he used a rag to wipe away some of the paint? Look at the way the light hits the figure's thigh, that juicy stroke of white mixed with ochre. It’s like he’s feeling the weight of the body, not just seeing it. There’s a kind of vulnerability in the way the paint is applied, an honesty that reminds me of Alice Neel’s portraits. They both have a way of making the paint itself become a character in the drama. It’s not about perfection, it’s about the messy, beautiful process of seeing and feeling.