Unaware Target 2017

Curator: Here we have Monica Ikegwu’s “Unaware Target,” a 2017 oil painting that arrests the eye with its contemporary, figurative approach. Editor: Immediately striking. There’s an unnerving vulnerability to it. It's like walking into a conversation already in progress…a silent observation. Curator: That sensation is fascinating, because it disrupts typical portraiture expectations. Rather than a face, Ikegwu presents the back of a person's head, cropped just above the shoulders. How does that strike you formally? Editor: The composition becomes less about individual character and more about shape and form. The tightly coiled hair becomes a powerful graphic element, a dense, dark mass against the serene pastel green backdrop. It plays with positive and negative space. It emphasizes absence as much as presence. Curator: Absolutely, it creates a tension. I can't help but think about the title too, “Unaware Target”. What's being targeted, or who's doing the targeting? It teases the viewer's curiosity. Editor: Maybe it’s the gaze itself that targets? By choosing not to give us the face, Ikegwu positions the viewer as the one observing, potentially even objectifying. Curator: Hmm. So, we become complicit in the act of looking? Or perhaps, we are all, at some point, that unaware target, blissfully ignorant of the world's gaze or potential threats. It is definitely more loaded than your average portrait! Editor: I am wondering if the back of the neck is some kind of metaphor: exposure, raw feeling. Notice how the impasto technique enhances the textural quality of the hair, but smooths almost porcelain-like around the nape. It’s these juxtapositions that elevate it beyond a simple likeness. Curator: Ikegwu is really playing with these contrasts; intimacy versus anonymity. I have always found the emotional ambiguity unsettling. This singular work encapsulates the broader contemporary dialogue about visibility and vulnerability. Editor: Yes! What appeared at first as a simple portrait reveals a complex narrative. Each element directs and misdirects assumptions. It leaves me with a certain feeling that shifts between tension and silent connection. Curator: Exactly. "Unaware Target" remains an experience and an image that invites perpetual revisitation.