C-lective Curator’s Cut:

In Uncomfortably Numb from his Waiting series, Brett Amory demonstrates the remarkable technical precision and emotional complexity that have become hallmarks of his practice, seamlessly blending realism with abstraction and surreal distortion. A mother and daughter-like pair stand hand in hand against a vibrant field of baby pink and saturated teal, surrounded by childlike that evoke imagination, innocence, and memory. In the upper right, a simple sketch of a child on a swing appears almost as an extension of the younger figure’s inner world, as though we are witnessing a daydream materialize. While the child gazes outward with curiosity and openness, the adult figure’s face dissolves into blur and fragmentation, suggesting emotional distance, exhaustion, or quiet dissociation. Amory’s juxtaposition of playful imagery with weathered beige textures reminiscent of peeling concrete or urban walls grounds the work back in lived reality, creating a poignant tension between imagination and experience, presence and absence, childhood wonder and adult emotional weight.