Painted and assembled at the very end of 2018, this work emerged with an unexpected gravity. I frequently find myself drawn to a certain flavor of Spanish painting; think Velazquez, Zurburan, El Greco, Goya, Picasso. Don’t take this as an arrogant comparison of caliber, but more in the sense of Spanish painting’s penchant for bleaching light and damning shadows, and the consequential (virtually ironic) drama. You could even consider the metaphysical light of Motherwell’s ‘Elegy to the Spanish Republic’ paintings.

As for Velazquez’s (or Picasso’s) ‘Las Meninas’ ? – I don’t exactly see her waiting around.