Jammie 2018

Jammie Holmes made this painting, "Jammie", with what looks like acrylic or maybe oil stick, it's hard to tell, but what I love is how the colours and marks are laid down with such directness. It's the kind of painting where you can really sense the artist at work. There's a rawness to the texture, the way the paint is scumbled and layered, transparent in some areas and thick in others. The figure seems to emerge from a web of frenetic lines and smudges, with the word 'work' repeated almost like a mantra. I'm really drawn to the scrawled signature, like the artist is staking their claim in the midst of all this activity. It makes me think about other artists who use language and the figure in such raw ways, maybe someone like Jean-Michel Basquiat. Ultimately, it's a painting that resists easy answers, it's ambiguous, personal, and full of energy.