Blessing 

Curator: This is Yoko d’Holbachie’s work, "Blessing." The artist often works in mixed media, including acrylic, in a style that blends surrealism with pop elements. I find the whole scene feels… otherworldly, dreamlike. Editor: My first thought? It's an explosion of synthetic colours and odd geometries! The whole composition feels like a complex assemblage – and that bulbous, textured head, well, it makes me think of highly processed consumer products, those brightly packaged sponges for children. Curator: I can see that, the tactile quality of the surface and the bright colors could definitely evoke a sense of playful commercialism, yet something about the delicate rendering and the figures expression speaks of something far deeper. Editor: But those tiny robotic figures at its base – it looks like there’s an entire miniature world laboring at the service of…whatever this being is! The figure’s placement upon the green and red mound of labour generates an off putting scene of unearned high position. What even are the materials d’Holbachie uses to get such detail? Curator: The "Blessing" seems to float into being, it shimmers like it may vanish entirely. For me, its creation summons such magic. Editor: Is it really though? This “magic” feels more calculated than it does conjured. This isn’t oil on canvas; this is acrylic, a material deeply tied to industrial processes. The blessing may instead reflect a dependency upon a manufactured object which requires the ongoing processing and extraction to support its manufacture. The reliance is visible within d’Holbachie’s processes and style! Curator: Hmm, the "Blessing" may point toward an ambiguous relationship to consumerism. It has its dark points, of course. The figure seems like an evolved digital god, perhaps its presence can warn of the future dependence of labour on the creation and expansion of digital realms. Yet for me the beauty and elegance remain… like a strange kind of visual prayer. Editor: Right, so maybe it’s less about some airy-fairy spirituality, and more about laying bare the material reality that even our most transcendental-seeming experiences are still built on something. Still, this would benefit from closer investigation in person. Curator: Exactly! I feel changed and open after gazing upon the figure’s blessings, hopefully visitors feel the same sense of illumination.