The
subject of Ena Swansea’s paintings is found as much in her
technique as in her depicted images. In Portal, she exploits
the malleability of paint as a means to embody a filmic drama:
beneath the varying thickness of her oily brushwork is an
entrancing undertow of emotional hesitancy. Formulaic elements
of fiction are constructed with painterly sophistication.
The elongated composition, and juxtaposition of overpowering
shadow to a withering, distant supernal light, draws the heroine
into a sinister destiny: placing the viewer in the position
of prime suspect.