Why did you leave sweet love? 2016

Mariojosé Ángeles made this painting, "Why did you leave sweet love?" with paint on canvas. I’m really drawn to the way Ángeles uses blues and greens, smudging them together so that you get these sort of luminous washes and pools of color. It's like a feeling of a memory, indistinct but emotionally charged. There’s a definite push and pull, you know? Look at the lower left corner, where these fleshy pinks and reds kinda bleed into each other. It’s a real contrast from the cooler, almost ethereal blues above. There's a vulnerability here, it’s raw, like a wound, maybe reflecting the pain suggested by the title. It makes me think of Francis Bacon's visceral approach to the human figure, but with a softer, more dreamlike quality. Ultimately, this painting feels less about answers and more about sitting with the messy, unresolved feelings that come with love and loss.