Counter to the Paul painting where a figure is dissolving, this figure is tightly described and arranged into a crystal-like composition. The kettle in the background is a reference to the Guston Kettle (1978) painting, which to me is a very sad painting of eternity. Painting is this place where you can (futilely) try to leave a mark behind that will outlive you. Portraiture/getting the “essence” of someone can be a way to insist one version of them is definitive, when we are not really knowable to each other.