And then deep into the gorge 

Curator: Oh, that light filtering through the leaves! Jamie Wyeth's painting, "And then deep into the gorge" pulls you right into the thick of that shadowy path. Editor: My first thought is that this has an eerie, fairytale quality. It’s both beautiful and slightly unsettling – like the Brothers Grimm, but with horses. Curator: It’s got this fantastic impasto technique that lends it a real tangible texture, like you could reach out and feel the leaves. I wonder what journey she's on, deeper into the unknown… maybe a modern-day fairytale princess running away! Editor: The way that Wyeth has positioned this woman – or maybe girl – in the cart almost disappearing into the darkness makes me think about representations of women in art. Often, it feels as if women were symbolically placed in nature to align them with purity and emotionality, even though that also tends to disempower them. I’m curious to see how Wyeth's piece dialogues with these tropes. Curator: Absolutely. The composition here definitely emphasizes nature's power. It's engulfing the figures, dwarfing them somehow, and the lighting kind of adds to this dramatic romance of escaping, venturing, being swallowed up... It speaks to the individual versus nature. It’s as if nature and her destiny are intertwined, quite beautifully and yet...with a bit of trepidation. Editor: Right, and in that sense, it is also feeding off of a romantic notion that untouched nature can have almost cathartic healing powers. Given Wyeth's background, it also is hard not to contextualize this through his lineage—the famous father, the deep links with Americana, but this feels to have its own unique haunting note. Curator: I always find it funny how a single painting can have so much to unpack... but this image pulls on something visceral, doesn’t it? A longing and perhaps the thrill of finding your way alone! Editor: Indeed, a journey into the gorge – perhaps one that's metaphorical. It asks questions, it evokes moods. I like that it doesn't provide any simple answers.