The Warrior Maiden and the Beast 2017

Curator: Jana Brike's 2017 painting, "The Warrior Maiden and the Beast," combines acrylic and mixed media on canvas. Editor: My immediate response is one of captivating unease. There's a strange juxtaposition between the maiden's pose, the dark, almost gothic horse, and the childlike script covering the animal's body. It’s like a fairy tale filtered through a slightly disturbing lens. Curator: Indeed. Brike’s work often explores themes of vulnerability and power, frequently employing imagery of young women and fantastical creatures. This piece seems to play on historical depictions of women as allegorical figures of virtue, but here that’s subverted through contemporary ideas about identity and self-expression. The presentation here seems sexually forward for an equine subject. Editor: I find it fascinating that the horse is decorated with flower garlands and small handwritten phrases – a fascinating mix of innocence and some unknown commentary or set of codes. The text looks like what a young girl might scribble on a school desk or notebook: hearts, stars, diamonds. The animal’s tears create an emotional connection; horses carry weight in mythology and have spiritual depth to them. What do you read into that relationship here? Curator: The layering of visual motifs certainly enriches our viewing experience. One may want to interpret the maiden as having power, taming the horse and bending him to her will. On the other hand, it could be a very modern allusion to exploitation. We can understand them both, through the text that seems to humanize the animal and the overall composition placing them side by side in tandem. Editor: So, is Brike giving us a straightforward hero narrative or something much more complicated, about societal expectation of roles? Curator: That’s what’s so striking about this piece—Brike leaves the questions open, prompting a personal encounter with our understanding about these archetypes and how those ideals play into modern social issues. She uses imagery to create a stage, lets the figures occupy it, and leaves us to decide their fate. Editor: Ultimately, this collision of vulnerability and raw emotional expression asks the audience to question their own cultural interpretations. The choice to leave its meaning elusive certainly leaves the viewer contemplating.