Guests 1991

Oleg Holosiy painted "Guests", at an unknown date, using oil on canvas. The muted tones and loose brushwork give it a dreamlike quality, like a memory fading at the edges. You can see that artmaking is very much a process. The surface has this wonderful, almost ghostly texture. Holosiy thinned the paint, letting it drip and pool in places, creating a sense of depth and atmosphere. Look at the way the light filters through the window, how the figures are both present and dissolving into the background. There is a mark to the lower right, a series of layered vertical strokes, like a curtain or a veil. I see it as a metaphor for the way we perceive the world, always filtered through our own experiences and biases. Holosiy reminds me of Marlene Dumas, especially in his ability to capture a sense of psychological tension and emotional ambiguity through the simplest of means. There is an ongoing conversation here, and the beauty of art is that it never really gives you all the answers.