A Gift 2013

Eric Massholder made this 200 x 200 cm painting, "A Gift," and just looking at it, I can imagine how it came into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Massholder, imagining him creating a world with bizarre figures and otherworldly architecture set against the vast, infinite depths of space. I see color, surface, and the physicality of the medium, the paint looks quite thin here. And then there's that dominant gesture of the giving figure. A hand extended, holding a gift, a space to share and to come together. This reminds me of other painters who were imagining new worlds, like Hilma af Klint. Artists are always in conversation, always inspiring each other's creativity across time. Here, we see the ambiguity and uncertainty of painting, allowing for multiple interpretations and meanings.