Stairwell 2018

Nick Alm painted this scene of a stairwell, and the figure descending the stairs, with oil on canvas. I wonder about the act of painting itself, and how this image came into being, shifting and emerging through touch, error, and intuition. I sympathize with the artist, imagining what it might have been like to create it. What were they thinking when they made it? The paint looks relatively thin, and there is not a huge amount of texture. How does that shape our experience of the painting? The neutral colours also contribute to the sense of this piece as a liminal space; is this her own apartment block, or somewhere more public? There is something about the tilt and the height of the viewpoint that makes this image feel both intimate and uncanny. As viewers, we are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting is embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.