Maiden and the Beast 2017

Jana Brike's 2017 painting "Maiden and the Beast" depicts a young woman in a white dress and veil, holding a snarling black cat in her arms. The backdrop is a stormy night sky with a full moon, creating a sense of foreboding. The contrasting colors and textures of the woman's delicate dress and the fierce cat suggest a complex relationship between innocence and danger. Brike's work often explores themes of myth and folklore, and this painting appears to draw on traditional imagery of the "beast within". The work showcases Brike's adeptness at capturing realism and detail in oil painting.