An experimental essay on a single painting by the brilliant artist, Frances Thomas. “I’ve been living with this painting for long enough to notice that there’s a differential gloss to the painting’s surface, with the textured grain of the panel rising to the surface in some areas, and an albumen sheen in others. Frances wanted to apply a matte varnish to it before I took it from her studio—“there are parts of this panel that are quite exposed,” she warned me—but I wanted it as it was, and refused her.”

Photo shows Frances Thomas, Light and Shadow, 2015/2018, acrylic on panel, 45.5 x 45.5 cm, installed at my home, November 2020.