Memory 2016

Michael Hafftka made this large painting, "Memory," with a real sense of immediacy, the black and white contrasting with these touches of orange. Look at how Hafftka's put the paint down; you can feel the gesture in it. Like it’s not just about rendering a scene, but about the act of remembering itself – messy, fragmented, emotional. The white feels like a ground that is almost being scratched away to reveal the forms beneath, while the blacks feel heavy, weighted, like a shadow. Then there’s that figure encased in a scribbled orange circle. It's quite raw. I like that in paintings. That rawness reminds me of Soutine, that same kind of searching, expressive touch. Hafftka is not so interested in easy answers but embraces the ambiguity of art, how it keeps a conversation going.