Girl with Hen 1956

Joy Hester made this figurative ink and wash painting of a Girl with Hen sometime in the 1930s. The earthy colours and dominant gestural marks give it a feeling of something raw, like it's emerged through trial, error, and intuition. I can really feel Hester sympathizing with her subjects. What was she thinking when she made it? There's something kind of weird and sad about the scene. The girl's got this bulging eye and the hen looks kind of sick. It feels like she's made a world of her own to comfort herself. I guess we all do it, one way or another. These simple washes and marks have such an emotional punch, don't they? You know, artists are always in conversation, inspiring one another's creativity across time. Painting like this is pure embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty. It’s a process of discovery, isn't it? So many interpretations, so much meaning!