Promise 2022

Zoe Hawk made this painting, Promise, sometime in the 20th or 21st century, probably with acrylic on panel, given how flat and slightly matte the surface is. It’s like the paint is sitting right there on top, doing its thing without pretense, which I love. The paint handling has a very clear directness, and it’s playful too. I love the way the pink of the girl’s uniforms, and their skin tones, are offset by the green and blue of the scene; how these colors interact is really what makes this painting sing. There’s a kind of sweetness to it all that is almost perverse, and there is something a little weird about the situation as well. What are the girls doing with those strings? This reminds me a little of Balthus, actually, in that it stages a children's game in a claustrophobic space. Art is always in conversation with other art, and this kind of tension between sweetness and the uncanny is a powerful way to connect us to the history of painting. And isn't painting just about promising us something anyway?