lovebug 2018

Editor: Here we have Camilla d'Errico's 2018 gouache and watercolor painting, "lovebug". I find the fluidity of the… hair? combined with the perched birds quite striking. What’s your perspective on it? Curator: I'm immediately drawn to the application of the gouache and watercolour. Look how the artist allows the paint to drip, seemingly uncontrolled, yet forming a very deliberate image. What does the means of production tell us? This combination of high art portraiture with the perceived messiness of craft is quite interesting, don’t you think? Editor: I do. It almost feels rebellious, blending those lines. I suppose the birds and ladybugs, repeated as they are, bring a certain craft-like pattern too, right? Curator: Exactly! The repetitive use of those motifs challenges the uniqueness often associated with high art. Think about the availability of materials like watercolour and gouache, how widely used they are, and how that affects the perception of the final artwork's value and its audience. How accessible is it in both its production and subject matter? Editor: It does make it feel… intimate, almost. Not imposing. I never considered how accessible art materials impact that feeling. Curator: Indeed. By using these accessible mediums, d’Errico perhaps democratizes the art, pulling it away from elitist spaces and back to everyday creation, focusing instead on the labor and process of artistic construction. Editor: That’s a perspective I hadn't fully considered, how material choice plays a role in dismantling high and low art boundaries and speaks to the means of art creation. I will keep it in mind. Curator: And I am struck by how such seemingly mundane materials and techniques can evoke such surreal, dreamy sensations! A good reminder of how process deeply enriches an art experience.