Pleasure Realm 2012

Darren Waterston made *Pleasure Realm* with what looks like watercolor or thinned oils, something that can really flow. He’s embracing the liquidity of paint here, letting it bloom and bleed across the surface, which gives the whole piece this dreamy, almost ethereal quality. Looking at those vertical drips, they're not quite controlled, but not entirely accidental either. Each one has its own character, its own little wobbles and pools. They remind me of geological forms, stalactites or maybe even strange, alien plants, and this sense of the natural world continues across the surface. The color palette is muted, mostly earth tones and soft reds, which adds to the otherworldly, slightly melancholic mood. I think of someone like Odilon Redon, who used similar colors and techniques to create these really unsettling, fantastical images. Ultimately, this piece embodies a constant negotiation between intention and chance, and that's what makes it so captivating.