Pippi Floating 2017

David Michael Hinnebusch made “Pippi Floating” with what looks like a riot of materials, maybe acrylic, maybe something else on canvas or board. You know, I find myself immediately drawn into the process, the way he's fearlessly layered colors and shapes. It feels like a conversation, each mark responding to the last, like a real Pippi Longstocking kind of dance. Looking closely, you can see how Hinnebusch builds up the surface. The paint is applied in thin washes, and then in other areas he makes these really graphic, decisive marks. It’s that central, scribbled figure that grabs me. It's both playful and serious, a kind of visual shorthand for the complexities of being. This piece reminds me of Guston’s later works, where he also embraced a kind of raw, almost cartoonish style to explore deeper themes. It’s like Hinnebusch is reminding us that art doesn’t always have to be pretty, it just has to be real.