Of Fate and Fortune 2021

Camilla d’Errico made this painting, ‘Of Fate and Fortune,’ sometime in the 20th Century, and it’s easy to get lost in her delicate, precise application of paint. You can almost see her making each tiny mark, as though the whole image has been built up slowly, like a sandcastle. The surface is smooth, very smooth, and the colours are luminous and pale. She’s used the yellow to tie the whole composition together, so the girl and the dragons feel as if they’re emerging from a dream. There’s a curl of hair just above the dragon on the right. Can you see the way it overlaps the dragon’s tail? It’s this kind of detail that makes me think about art as a conversation. I'm reminded of Yoshitaka Amano. Both artists are interested in line, and this shared focus transcends any simple notion of influence. Ultimately, art is about exchange, about seeing the world through the eyes of others. Each stroke of paint is a question, an invitation to join the conversation.