Untitled 

Curator: Here we have an untitled piece by Jacqueline Hick, created with acrylic paint. The canvas pulses with layered forms that are as evocative as they are ambiguous. What is your immediate reaction to it? Editor: Chaotic. There's a frantic energy in the brushstrokes, almost violent. The stark contrast between the muted earth tones and that assertive red really amplifies the sense of unease. What do you make of its emotional tenor? Curator: For me, this resonates with the anxieties of post-war expressionism—a grappling with internal turmoil reflected in the fragmented forms. The lack of a concrete subject invites projections of collective trauma and existential questioning. Does that raw expression evoke similar interpretations? Editor: Yes, and it does so with remarkable subtlety. Hick’s composition defies easy categorization. The loose lines flirt with figuration, hinting at forms that never quite materialize. I’m fascinated by how she manages to maintain a sense of dynamism while verging on collapse. Curator: Hick worked in a period deeply influenced by Abstract Expressionism. But it’s critical to view her work through the lens of gender, where female artists were systemically marginalized. Could the abstraction here be interpreted as a conscious evasion of male-dominated narratives, claiming autonomy through non-representation? Editor: That's an insightful reading. The non-figurative approach opens a space where conventional narratives become destabilized. Looking closely, the interplay of lines generates its own internal logic, independent from conventional perspective and mimesis. It has a syntax of its own, I would say. Curator: Absolutely. It reflects a move towards formal self-sufficiency and subjective agency. Through gestural abstraction, Hick claims her space. Ultimately, this is her subjective interpretation about social structures, conveyed not through depictions but through the painting's material reality and texture. Editor: This has definitely encouraged a more layered, more nuanced consideration. At first it screamed turmoil. I see the structure more clearly, and appreciate that controlled, yet vigorous tension within. Curator: I find myself appreciating the historical dialogue with those women abstract artists whom we so often ignore, each creating profound forms reflecting self-expression.