St. Nick 

Editor: So, here we have “St. Nick” by Scott Gustafson, painted with gouache, seemingly a recent work despite its nostalgic feel. It's incredibly warm, with Santa giving us that classic "shhh" gesture. What's your take on this, what catches your eye? Curator: Well, it’s more than a painting, isn’t it? It's a whispered secret, a warm hug on a cold night. For me, it evokes that very specific magic, that delicious anxiety of wondering if I was truly asleep before he came. It's all so intentionally posed, carefully crafted to tap into those primal, joyful memories of believing in Santa, and makes you wish for them again, almost fiercely. Look at that clock, just about midnight! And what does his expression tell you? Mischief, wouldn't you say? Editor: Absolutely, there’s definitely a playfulness there. It feels like it is playing with nostalgia, the way he almost breaks the fourth wall to involve us. Did it catch you as feeling almost too constructed, given how much emotion is built-in already? Curator: I see your point, and I'm often wary of manufactured sentimentality. But perhaps that deliberate composition is key to its effect? I believe it attempts to resurrect those childhood dreams through pure visual engineering, using warmth and vivid imagery to spark that old innocent faith. Editor: That makes sense, seeing it as engineered really reframes how it works. Like stagecraft almost, instead of art. Curator: Exactly. Sometimes the artifice IS the point. It allows the heartstrings to be manipulated so precisely and intensely! That's the trick of nostalgia itself, right? The idealised memory rather than a complete reflection of events. Editor: Hmm, point taken. It's like being willingly hoodwinked, embracing a perfect lie! Curator: Indeed! A perfect lie, carefully curated by Mr. Gustafson to sell more gouache! And he got us talking about it. Editor: So true! This dive into Gustafson's staged sincerity definitely gave me a new perspective on his methods.