Miss Africa 2013

Kent Monkman made this painting, ‘Miss Africa,’ with acrylic on canvas. I can almost feel the energy that went into it, a churning of colors and figures and symbols all fighting for space. I wonder what it was like for Monkman to stand before that canvas, knowing he wanted to depict such a complex scene. I can imagine him layering the paint, building up this tableau of figures from different times and places – pyramids, palm trees, safaris, automobiles! The thick brushstrokes give the scene a kind of raw, immediate feeling. Look at the way he paints the figures, full of emotion and movement. It's like he's saying something about the clash of cultures, the weight of history, the wildness of the world. Painting is like that sometimes; it takes on more than you expect, it becomes this crazy mix of intention and accident. You know, we’re all just riffing off each other, trying to make sense of things one brushstroke at a time!