Queen of a New World 2020

Jana Brike’s painted this vision of a ‘Queen of a New World’ with a delicate touch, layering thin washes of oil to create a dreamy atmosphere. I imagine the process of painting itself might have been like a meditation, a slow, unfolding discovery. The young queen stands before us, crowned with flowering branches. What was Brike thinking as she made her? Was she thinking of Botticelli? And, wow, those flowers! It makes me think of how nature and humanity are intertwined. The thin paint and soft edges give the painting a feeling of transience, like a memory or a dream. The textures are so subtle. It reminds me of the Pre-Raphaelites, those English painters who were also trying to reach back and forge something new. Artists are always in conversation, borrowing and inventing. That’s how art keeps going, how it stays alive. Like us, the artist is always figuring things out, using the canvas as a place to wonder.