INMS #01 

Curator: Right now, we're looking at "INMS #01" by Yuschav Arly, a contemporary painting employing acrylics to, if I may be so bold, serve up a somewhat surreal portrait. Editor: Surreal is right! I’m immediately struck by this odd stillness amidst what feels like a culinary whirlwind. Utensils levitating around this woman...it's disconcerting, yet elegant in a strange way. I get a touch of stage fright. Curator: There is a feeling of something slightly amiss, of course. Yuschav Arly is really toying with this interesting theme of figuration, placing his character in a scene that seems almost dreamlike or staged. Editor: I'm wondering about the acrylic paint here. The flat surfaces, those very deliberate outlines—it lends a graphic quality, almost like a digital illustration brought to life. Are we seeing a commentary on mass production perhaps, how readily available images are? I'm wondering about the chair and how that relates, is there royalty implied, considering the material consumption we witness? Curator: Potentially! It makes you really consider all these layers. And it invites you in. These choices could imply so much. It's thought-provoking precisely because it avoids being didactic. There's space to breathe and feel. Does her gaze also help create a feeling of discomfort, I think, if anything, she feels as though she's about to say something or be removed completely. Editor: Absolutely, the gaze locks you in. You mentioned "figuration" earlier. It’s clear that we have all the tools to eat at this table, it feels incomplete, especially with such sparse brushstrokes. There seems a real intentionality that wants us to unpack all that is and isn't there, as opposed to this model presented to us by mainstream, traditional values of eating and/or aristocracy. Curator: Precisely. There's a quiet radicalism there. The contemporary painting provides a kind of commentary about society. Editor: Seeing this now has opened me to thinking how we can rethink our current relationship to painting and labor in terms of craft and material value. What does that painting mean to you? Curator: It really underscores how much emotional depth and even intellectual complexity can be communicated through very simple and effective creative decisions. It whispers a bit of magic into everyday experiences.