Rag it Up 2019

Monica Ikegwu’s oil painting, *Rag it Up,* seems like it emerged from a place of deep looking. I can almost feel the canvas and smell the oil paint. The subdued colour palette is like a caress—browns, greens, and golds that glow softly under the light. The tonal modelling is quite beautiful and the way she captured the figure’s features, the sharp nose, the curl of the beard, the glint in his eye is so fresh! I wonder what it was like for Ikegwu to paint this? The intimacy of looking so closely at another person; I imagine she wanted to do justice to the sitter’s unique beauty. This piece reminds me of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and how she uses shadow and light to capture a mood, and to suggest interiority. Painters are always talking to each other in ways that transcend time and space.