Slow Burn 

Curator: Looking at this rather arresting piece by Troy Brooks, titled "Slow Burn," what strikes me is how the manipulation of oil paint lends this figure a quality both human and alien. Art Historian: Absolutely. I'm immediately captivated by her eerie stillness. There’s a strong current of surrealism that feels very evocative of the early to mid-20th century, when anxieties about femininity and the monstrous-feminine were pervasive in visual culture. Curator: It's fascinating how Brooks utilizes the smooth, almost porcelain-like texture of the medium to depict this…uncanny figure. The rendering of her red gown, for instance, is so meticulously pleated, creating a stark contrast with her pallid skin. Art Historian: That contrast really highlights the societal pressure on women to perform a certain image of beauty, a very constructed ideal. Her exaggerated features and the overall stylized aesthetic hint at the ways the media shapes our perceptions. And the smoke around her hands--does that refer to a dissolving self? The withering of dreams? Curator: Perhaps. I see the smoke also as a residue, material evidence of a transformation, almost alchemical, taking place within the painting's space. It suggests a physical process – a slow burning – that transforms both the subject and, potentially, the viewer. The placement of the signature also suggests a finalization of process that has to do with labor and placement of signature as signifier of commodity. Art Historian: Indeed, and this resonates with wider dialogues in art history about the construction of identity through symbolic means. And how art becomes commodity. It also emphasizes that artists also operate as business persons. Curator: The entire process seems focused on generating desire and attention and using an interplay of medium and style to produce something intriguing to capture audience’s attention, really. I can now move on and focus on another artist! Art Historian: A good point. It is fascinating to consider Brooks's piece in dialogue with similar trends in contemporary portraiture and how it reflects or diverges from traditional artistic concerns. It certainly keeps the conversation flowing, doesn’t it?