Another Day 2018

Martine Johanna painted this disquieting portrait, ‘Another Day,’ sometime in the 20th Century, using oil. It looks like she was working, maybe searching for something in the process. Look at how the surface of her skin glows with these unnatural tints. There’s a real push-pull between soft, almost fleshy areas and hard, planar forms. See how the light from the pinks and peaches of the face bounces off the turquoise hand, how one form seems to sculpt the other. I think about this painting in terms of collage: she’s juxtaposing different things, maybe different feelings, smashing them together and asking them to make sense as a whole. I can’t help but wonder, is it ‘another day’ of life, or is it more like a beauty regime? This piece has something of Lisa Yuskavage in it, with its hyperrealism, fleshy tones, and hints of the grotesque. Ultimately, it’s a painting that leaves you with more questions than answers. And I love that about it.