At the Back of the North Wind 1990

Jo Baer painted At the Back of the North Wind with delicate washes and drawn lines. Can you feel the artist’s breath hovering just behind the surface? I can almost see her standing there, coaxing these figures and forms from the ground. Baer’s world seems to have been created layer by layer, with shapes emerging from the mist and then receding again. The colour palette whispers rather than shouts, with ghostly figures almost blending into the background. I think she’s using the medium to create a world that is hard to grasp, ephemeral and uncertain. Look how she draws a single line to give you a form, then dissolves it with these ghostly colours and shapes, then reasserts it again. It's as if she's trying to catch something elusive, something that slips through your fingers the moment you think you've got it. And like a dream, it feels just out of reach, hovering at the edge of your awareness. All painters are connected, and in constant conversation, aren’t they?