Night Vision 2020

Editor: We're looking at "Night Vision," an oil painting from 2020 by Rose Freymuth-Frazier. It has such an intimate, dreamy quality. The woman's eyes are obscured by butterflies. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Intriguing. Focusing on the formal elements, the muted palette establishes a somber, ethereal mood. The composition, primarily vertical, is interrupted by the diagonal positioning of the figure. This immediately creates a visual tension, drawing the eye from the periphery toward the implied central axis - the woman's face. Notice also how the texture of the oil paint contributes to the dreamy, almost hallucinatory, effect. Editor: Yes, the butterflies instead of eyes… Is it about metaphorical blindness, or something else? Curator: That could be a valid reading. But consider the butterflies solely as forms. Their placement disrupts the expected symmetry of the face, fracturing our gaze and creating an estrangement effect. Moreover, the use of impasto in the floral elements contrasts sharply with the smooth skin of the subject. Why do you think the artist uses the flowers, the roses and butterflies? Editor: Possibly symbols? Butterflies for transformation, and roses… well, romance or beauty, perhaps? But it seems deeper. Curator: Perhaps. The roses do frame the subject in this painting but at what price to the figure? However, to analyse the butterflies, moths, flowers or anything figurative might fall into a hermeneutic trap; let's keep the focus on what is explicitly displayed in the art, which can speak more than the symbol or the representation. It can only be through the material qualities, visual arrangement and interplay that an experience with "Night Vision" can come to light. Editor: That makes me appreciate how the painting avoids easy narratives and opens itself to just feeling something from it, visually. I can see that’s valid. Curator: Precisely. Hopefully, seeing it that way may give you greater nuance when seeing work from any other perspective.