Red 7 2022

Monica Ikegwu made "Red 7," a striking oil painting that's like a concentrated dose of emotion. The whole canvas pulses with this deep crimson, and it feels like she's bottled up a raw nerve right there on the surface. Just imagine her in the studio, wrestling with that color, trying to get it just right. It’s almost like you can see her thoughts and feelings swirling around the canvas, each brushstroke a little piece of her inner world. The paint is applied with such intensity that you can feel the weight of her gesture. It’s not just about what she's painting, but how she's painting it—the texture, the depth, the sheer physicality of the medium. The red she uses seems to seep into every corner of the canvas, reflecting the work of artists like Rothko, who used color to explore deep emotion. It's a reminder that all artists are in conversation, constantly building on what came before, transforming it, and making it their own.