Spring Tide 

Editor: So, this is "Spring Tide" by Sarah Joncas, created with acrylic paint. The way the face floats there is quite haunting. What do you see in this piece, from your perspective? Curator: Considering it through a materialist lens, the smoothness of the acrylic, that almost digital sheen, creates a barrier. It divorces the figure from the tactile world, presenting an idealized, almost manufactured version of vulnerability. Look at the landscape rendered behind: mass production via homogenous technique, trees reduced to lines. Where is the labour in nature or a real person? Editor: So the technique flattens the feeling for you? I do see what you mean by ‘manufactured’. What about the subject matter and theme, does that impact your materialist view at all? Curator: Absolutely. The combination of the crying woman, immersed in the water, and the exaggerated, idealized full moon, speak to consumerism. These evoke commercially appealing ideals that the market uses to create desire. The labor of sadness commodified to sell an ethereal feeling and packaged into an easily-consumed painting. Editor: That is very insightful. So, even though it's a painting, you’re saying the smoothness of the acrylic and almost digital quality are related to mass production. Thank you! Curator: Exactly! It reflects our consumption of experiences rather than genuine engagement with them. Always interrogate the means of production.