The Afternoon series draws from Fernand Lungren’s painting The Café in which a woman sits alone in a café. A sense of anonymity drew the artist to the work. Jesse Mc Lin offers a situation of narrative potential, capturing the thoughts and emotions going through her mind.
In the Afternoon series, the artist has cleared out the details and animation of Lungren’s masterwork concentrating on his use of the architecture and perspective to focus on the central figure. In this new interpretation, the space becomes colour surfaces, and frames, trapping the character and creating a claustrophobic atmosphere.
In Jesse Mc Lin’s third interpretation of the painting, Afternoon III, the stillness of the room, carafe and glass contrast with the layered stances of the subject evoking unease and anxiety. He creates a quiet tension suggesting a moment where the personality of the subject fuses with his own psyche and apprehensions.
In Afternoon IV, the subject’s dress, which is key in Lungren’s work, fuses with the space to pull the viewer into the painting. The character makes direct eye contact with the viewer. No longer fragmented, this last of the series projects a feeling confidence and assertion.
