This Too Will Be Lost Like a Kiss Blown in the Breeze: Megan Baker
Like the movement of the wind, Megan Baker’s paintings fluctuate in form, shifting and undulating through layers of impasto. They never fully coalesce or resolve, instead remaining in a constant state of flux, where fragmented and gestural figures are interrupted by the immediacy of paint.
Megan Baker investigates Old Master paintings, reflecting on the circularity of art history by revisiting them through a contemporary lens. In this body of work, the artist draws specific inspiration from the Victorian era and the Pre-Raphaelites, the latter being particularly relevant in light of their pursuit of a return to the natural world. Amongst them, are John William Waterhouse, Arthur Hughes, and William Powell Frith - whose work 'Claude Duval' (1819-1909) is exhibited alongside that of Baker, exposing the artist's creative process. Here, her lyrical abstractions transform into dream-like landscapes. Exploring moments of stillness within nature, the artist reflects on our contained state as human beings, while evoking a quiet sense of comfort in solitude.
Baker's work draws closely from the subtleties of the natural world - particularly the overlooked, everyday moments that emerge in quiet contemplation. The artist is especially drawn to the intangible presence of the wind: how it gathers and disperses, how its velocity can shift from fierce to delicate. In these movements, wind becomes a metaphor for the transience of time - circulating, reminding, devouring - whilst carrying with it the whispers of past seasons. It serves as both a force of change and a gentle reminder of stillness, positioning the self as momentarily immobile while everything else shifts around it. In this way, Baker's paintings approach nature as a sanctuary, a space in which the fleeting and the eternal coexist.
