Divine Intervention 2018

Rose Freymuth-Frazier made "Divine Intervention" with oil on panel, and I love how it looks like something from another century. The lighting is so dramatic, and the way the artist renders the cat’s fur is just gorgeous. You can almost feel the softness. The paint handling here is meticulous. The artist is building up layers and layers of thin glazes to create luminosity and depth, especially in that dark background. And the way the light catches the edges of the cat's fur… it’s almost like she’s using the paint to sculpt light itself. I’m especially drawn to the cat’s yellow eyes and how they draw you in. This reminds me of some of the classical paintings by Titian, maybe, or even Manet, but with a totally contemporary, and slightly twisted sensibility. It shows how artists are constantly in conversation with the past, reinterpreting and remixing ideas in their own way.