Claudia Pearl Cathy Shanna and Melissa 2017

David Michael Hinnebusch painted Claudia Pearl Cathy Shanna and Melissa with many sweeping brushstrokes of green, pink, and white. The act of painting this must have been cathartic. I can see him circling around each figure, creating a vortex-like space for them to emerge. I sympathize with Hinnebusch, I know what it's like to start with an image or an idea, and then let the process take over. Did he have a particular memory of these people when he painted them? Or were they merely names? The surface looks so thick with paint, built up layer upon layer, almost like frosting on a cake! Notice the way Hinnebusch uses these colors to build up each figure, the way they almost bleed into one another, connected by the swirling patterns of the paint itself. Hinnebusch, like all artists, is in conversation with those that have come before him. This painting embodies ambiguity, encouraging multiple interpretations. It reminds me to embrace uncertainty and allows for new ways of seeing the world around me.