It is rare that we show an artist whose work demands such a powerful response from the viewer.
Esther’s paintings are cinematic in their dramatic narrative, her cast of characters stop you in your tracks, their vitality simply spellbinding in their engagement. Creatures from another world, glamorous and uninhibited, they exist in an alternative social hinterland somewhere off canvas. Esther’s paintings open a window on to that world, allowing us a brief glimpse as her performers stop and stare. It is that stare, that engagement, that Esther has long mastered and made a leitmotif of her paintings. The stare can be challenging, amused, seductive but it is consistently direct, often mesmerising in its intensity. These paintings are not for the faint-hearted, they are not a pastel shaded landscape to complement a lampshade. Make no mistake, when you hang one of Esther’s extraordinary creations in your home a glorious fictional, life-affirming being enters your life.
© Panter & Hall
