Bright Earth 2019

Joshua Flint, who was born in 1977, made this painting called Bright Earth using oil on canvas. The painting is dominated by spherical marks of varied sizes, ranging from pink to orange, as if Flint built the composition stroke by stroke. I wonder what he was thinking when he made this painting. Maybe he was trying to capture a fleeting moment of childhood wonder, when a cluster of balloons can seem like a whole world of possibilities. I can imagine him layering the oil paints thinly, building up the textures and colors, pushing and pulling the forms, as he sought to capture the magical quality of the scene. The paint isn't thick, but there is a sense of dynamism. The way the light catches the edges of the balloons is particularly striking. They are like little explosions of color, suspended in mid-air. It's like he's winking at the work of other painters who have explored similar themes, like the Impressionists. That's what artists do, right? Keep the conversation alive. The ongoing discussion about color and form helps us to experience the world in a new way.