Sunflowers 

Curator: Alright, so, feast your eyes on "Sunflowers" by Konstantin Gorbatov. Just a riot of golden yellow against this, almost aggressively, bright blue sky. What's your immediate take? Editor: Exuberant! Like someone bottled pure joy and then threw it at a canvas. But... the impasto, it's almost frantic. Is it just me, or is there a tiny undercurrent of unease beneath all that sunshine? Curator: I get that. Sunflowers, universally symbols of happiness and adoration, are fascinating. We see the radiant center mirroring the sun itself. Yet, look how Gorbatov renders them; almost as individuals, each with its own slant, its own imperfect halo. They are sunflowers, yes, but so uniquely…themselves. Editor: Exactly! They’re not idealized. They're straining upwards, and the thickly applied paint adds so much weight and physicality. Like they’re struggling to reach for the sun, reaching towards enlightenment perhaps. I wonder about the period. Is this Post-Impressionism reaching towards Expressionism, grappling to portray emotions felt and seen, perhaps even more so felt and then seen. Curator: Given that Post-Impressionism and Expressionism are listed under art movements, you very well might have just hit the bullseye on the evolution and exploration of visual language! Do sunflowers always have to be a simple token? It's more nuanced than that. Gorbatov's captured a kind of fervent longing. Editor: And that frantic quality…think of Van Gogh’s sunflowers, teetering on the edge of mania. There’s a connection in the shared artistic lineage, though, to my eye, it's distinct here. This sunflower is longing, and perhaps it is mania too, because aren't those very closely connected to begin with? There's a raw, immediate emotion. Curator: Absolutely, and isn't that the crux of it? Art being a direct conduit for feeling, not just seeing. I'll look at sunflowers differently now. I will bring into consideration how it stretches far beyond a simple flower painting to get me in tune with deep sensations and contemplations on what I experience when I am just being a 'me' for now and how it's also alright. Editor: Me too. Next time I see a sunflower, I’ll be reminded to dig beneath the surface of simple happiness and look for the more complex, human emotions underneath.