Xanthe Muston – In the Pale Nights

In 2023, Xanthe Muston had the opportunity to view a retrospective of Edvard Munch’s work. In Munch’s surreal scenes, Nature is portrayed with intense drama, often rendered with more character than the human figures, who appear diminished beside towering, cliff-like trees and swirling clouds. Muston’s painting The Seasons reimagines Munch’s The Dance of Life. In her composition, Munch’s southern Norwegian coast is replaced with an Australian beach. The women from the original painting—commonly interpreted as representing the stages of female vitality and life—are reimagined as the figure of Persephone, who watches over two dancers whose movements cast dramatic shadows. Another work, Blue and Yellow, references Munch’s Red and White, presenting two figures in a sleepless, dreamlike scene. What ties these works together is a shared exploration of private introspection and the longing for connection during pale, moonlit nights, when the full moon casts fantastical shapes across the landscape.