Diana's Dream 

Curator: So, here we have “Diana’s Dream,” an oil painting, though undated, by Vincent Giarrano. What strikes you first? Editor: Honestly, that enormous, wrinkled bedsheet! It dominates everything. It’s almost a landscape of crumpled linen. It's as if the textile has a greater presence than the dreamer. Curator: Interesting observation. To me, it feels incredibly intimate, like stepping into a private, unguarded moment. There’s a voyeuristic quality. What do you think about Giarrano’s choices for the props here? Editor: They seem to be hinting at both her individuality and perhaps... the process of artmaking? There are all of these little details: the laptop, the stack of pictures tacked to the wall above, even the clutter gives insight to the context of creative labor. The tools of creation seem almost as prominent as the subject of this tableau. Curator: Absolutely. The slightly messy room—the piles of clothes, books… it’s all very revealing. And you sense that these are very intentionally realistic portrayals. These sorts of "realistic" choices, which are everywhere in portraiture and genre painting, were actually fairly new ideas about paintings for a period of art. It also makes me question whether she is asleep, or actually creating. What do you feel the message Giarrano communicates to his viewers here is? Editor: To me it screams that, here lies one actively embedded into the throes of material-culture- and her materials shape her self. I see a consumer. Perhaps I need another moment, what do you gather when pondering upon her message? Curator: For me, it's that the boundaries between our dreams and daily existence is an art as fragile and vital as Diana herself! Editor: Hmm. Well put! I guess, when viewing artwork- its not always what the artwork shows but the feelings evoked during observations of that visual art form. Curator: Indeed! There can never be enough said to describe every nuance of meaning within a picture, but this certainly made me think.