So Certain I Was a Horse 1985

I see Betty Goodwin layering washes of colour to bring this image, So Certain I Was a Horse, into being. I feel her, wrestling with this pale figure, trying to draw it out of the deep blue. Imagine her, stepping back, squinting, then leaning in close again, adding layer upon layer until the colours shift and bleed, creating this translucent surface. I think she’s creating a space that’s not quite here, not quite there, but somewhere in between. Goodwin's mark-making is so delicate, so tentative, yet confident. That single red line trailing from the figure’s back is like a tether to the world. It reminds me of Marlene Dumas' ghostly figures, always vulnerable, always on the edge of disappearing. Artists like Betty Goodwin remind us that painting isn’t about answers; it’s about the questions we ask along the way. It is a form of embodied expression which embraces ambiguity.