Sit out 

Curator: Nigel Van Wieck's "Sit Out" offers an intimate, yet somewhat detached glimpse into a commonplace urban setting, though its exact date of creation remains unspecified. What catches your eye upon first viewing? Editor: Hmm. The colour palette strikes me instantly—that electric violet blouse against the muted blues and yellows… there's a discord, an almost Hopper-esque alienation emanating from the canvas, a strange vibe I cannot put my finger on. Curator: Indeed, Van Wieck masterfully utilizes pastels to evoke a mood of both immediacy and detachment. Notice how the planes of color intersect and define the figures. There's a geometric quality underlying the representational forms—the very deliberate arrangement of shapes. Editor: It is like a stage set; there's this stillness and expectation. I feel the figures are waiting for something—or running from it, or, maybe they are the stage of life itself, acting as actors and stagehands. The painting just hangs in the moment of time. It seems to blend into neo-expressionism, but with more focus on realism in it too, at the same time. I am conflicted, a weird painting! Curator: Interesting. I find Van Wieck's choice of pastel quite crucial here. The medium itself lends a certain fragility to the scene, a sense that this moment is fleeting, transient. The loose strokes create texture, a physical manifestation of the painting process itself. Editor: You know, I keep coming back to the title, "Sit Out." Is it a deliberate invitation, or an exclusion? The seated figure in the bright shirt could just as easily be waiting to be asked to dance as contemplating leaving. It’s so loaded. Curator: I believe the ambiguity is deliberate. Van Wieck prompts the viewer to confront these dualities—of closeness and distance, exposure and concealment—forcing them to confront a potentially complicated reality, within an otherwise standard environment. Editor: It is the power of insinuation. By the exclusion, we may interpret a different message as it resonates with our human experience. Like with old movies, it offers both beauty and conflict that is not immediately obvious to us. Curator: Precisely, the very form and structure underscore the subject. After further reflection, I appreciate how the unresolved narratives linger. Editor: It feels unfinished yet perfectly resolves at the point of experience, something beautifully melancholic.