Mascaron 1990

Oleg Holosiy made this painting, Mascaron, using oil on canvas, though its exact date remains unknown. The way this painting seems to emerge right out of the canvas reminds me of the idea of artmaking as a process of discovery. Holosiy is not so much creating a face as he is uncovering something that was always there. I love the earthy palette and the way he’s built up the texture. You can see where he’s layered the paint to give the face that kind of rough-hewn, almost sculptural quality. And that central stroke for the nose – it’s so simple, yet it defines the whole character of the face. It makes me think about the way Cy Twombly would just scrawl a few lines and suddenly, there’s a whole world of emotion in those marks. There's something about the directness of the image that stays with you, like a half-remembered dream, or a face glimpsed in a crowd.