Sarah Buckner Phénomène, 2025

Phénomène depicts a standing figure shown from behind, turned three-quarters toward the viewer. The figure is bare from the waist up and wears pale pink trousers, rendered in loose, thinly applied oil that allows the linen ground to show through. Toward the lower half of the canvas, the paint runs and drips in elongated rivulets, a quality that appears to result from the inclusion of nail polish in the medium. The figure wears a wide-brimmed dark hat, beneath which a small sprig of dried thistle is tucked — an actual plant element affixed to the surface, introducing a tactile, three-dimensional detail against the painted ground. One hand is raised to the chin, a single fingertip touching the lips; the nail is painted a dark blue-grey. The face is rendered with economy: dark eyes, a neutral expression, features outlined with charcoal that remains visible in the contours of the body and hat. The background is worked in muted greens and grey-blues, applied with visible brushwork that varies between thin washes and denser passages. The vertical format — narrow and tall at 135 × 50 cm — compresses the figure within the picture plane.