Red2 2020

Monica Ikegwu’s ‘Red2’ emerges as a radiant vision in oil paint on canvas. It's like she has translated a feeling directly from her soul onto the canvas. The painting feels really intimate, and kind of vulnerable too. Look how she is playing with the monochrome palette and the spectrum of reds, from the softer hues on the skin to the dramatic, shiny obsidian lips that contrast with the matte background. I can almost feel the texture, that smoothness, that wetness. And the brushwork isn't hiding, but it’s not shouting either. It’s like Ikegwu is saying, ‘Here I am, painting, thinking, feeling.’ It is a sensual dance between control and abandon, a conversation between artist and subject. Painting is like a conversation—artists respond to each other across time and space. Each brushstroke becomes a gesture, a thought, an emotion made visible, forever part of the dialogue.