Untitled 1925

Rita Angus made this painting with oils, somewhere, sometime – it’s a landscape, but the brushstrokes are so present, so bold. I can almost see her wrestling with the canvas, trying to capture the scene, maybe even a little bit frustrated with the way things look, how they feel. You know, the paint is laid on kinda thick, kinda scrubby, and that greyish light makes me think about how the weather can mess with your head when you’re trying to make a picture. There’s this one stroke, right across the foreground – it’s like a sideways swipe of pale lavender, and it just vibrates with energy. I bet Angus was trying to nail something down, a feeling, a memory, maybe even just the light. It makes me think about all the other artists out there who are trying to figure things out, one brushstroke at a time. That’s what painting is all about: not knowing, but trying anyway.