The Quiet Between by Tayo Explore Mondoir Studio Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 120 x 140 cm Year: 2024 Status: available The close encounter between the woman and the white bird creates a moment suspended between intimacy and distance. Water slows the scene and turns every bubble and reflection into a measure of time. The painting considers the fragile interval before trust, recovery or departure - a silence in which fear has not disappeared, but tenderness has become possible. Why collect this work?A face and bird are held at almost touching distance, while the water’s distortions make intimacy appear provisional rather than secure. Tayo describes water, animals and refracted light as signs of fragility and change. Here, that stated vocabulary helps frame the bird as more than an incidental companion.In the photograph, the closed eye and turned profile contrast with the bird’s direct, open gaze. Bubbles punctuate the dark field, while wavering reflections break across the forehead, cheek and shoulder.The documented oil-on-canvas medium permits gradual tonal transitions between skin, water and shadow. Sharper accents on eyelashes, bubbles and the bird’s outline keep the submerged forms legible.At the catalogue scale of 120 by 140 centimetres, this 2024 painting enlarges a private encounter. Its fusion of portraiture and animal symbolism supports discussion of how closeness can coexist with separation. About the ArtistTayo Tayo is an artist on Mondoir Studio. Artistic discipline: painting. Based in Ufa, RU. Nationality: Nigerian My paintings begin with the face and the body, but I am less interested in likeness than in what pressure reveals.
