La Machine Animale 2016

Curator: "La Machine Animale," created in 2016 by Joshua Flint, immediately gives the impression of a hazy memory. The palette is muted, almost melancholic. Editor: It’s certainly evocative. My eye is drawn to the thick application of oil paint – you can almost feel the texture of the aged metal and the cool, damp air of the forest surrounding the scene. How was this textural quality achieved, I wonder? What supports are in play that create this vision? Curator: Flint uses glazing techniques that create luminosity, juxtaposing it against heavier impasto in areas like the car’s body and the bark of the birch trees. This contrast pulls our focus between these highly detailed sections and more abstracted areas that evoke depth, light and shadow, a dialectic interplay if you will. Editor: Fascinating. And what about the subject matter? The juxtaposition of the antique racing car with the almost romantic landscape – what does that pairing signify? Curator: The symbolism, I suspect, is key. Consider the contrast – machine versus nature. The painting posits a dialogue between the artificial and the organic. The single yellow rose, isolated in the foreground, brings further contrast between decay, beauty, natural life, and of course, our very being as mortal organisms. It introduces elements of the memento mori tradition into a landscape of dreamlike qualities, an important gesture, no? Editor: Precisely! The artist clearly possesses excellent craftsmanship, attending to both the historical machine aesthetic and material application within his or her labor. Did Flint utilize any kind of preliminary underpainting that informs these elements? Curator: Given Flint’s history, it's likely a carefully planned, multi-layered process, building up depth and complexity gradually. Perhaps the underpainting gives way for the thick paint application which enables light and shadow and creates that slightly surreal atmosphere. The formal arrangement of the painting serves to further push the dialectical and structural considerations. Editor: In a time so dominated by digital artifice, it's reassuring to observe work with an obviously keen attention to handcrafted methodology and social commentary. Thanks! Curator: I agree. I walk away contemplating notions of contrast, memory, and humanity’s place within an environment perpetually transformed through technological advancement.