Horses white/pink 

Małgorzata Serwatka made this painting with white and pink tones. The handling of the paint is wonderfully fluid. It looks as though she built up the image with many translucent layers, allowing the whiteness of the support to glow through. In terms of technique, Serwatka seems interested in the tradition of loose, gestural brushwork made famous by painters like John Singer Sargent. We can see the marks of the brush everywhere, evoking a sense of movement and spontaneity, even of speed. This effect is entirely intentional. It is a kind of skilled performance. But the way that the painting is seemingly unfinished, only partially resolved, is equally important. Incomplete works like this prompt us to value the labor that goes into the act of creation. The real subject of the painting becomes Serwatka’s method, and the beauty of the painting emerges not only from the final image, but from the traces of its making. In this way, Serwatka elevates the status of craft, celebrating the artist’s hand.