Perfect systems.
Perfect lives.
Perfect performances.

We all drink from the same porcelain cup…
Pretending not to notice the aftertaste.

I paint that aftertaste.

Not the ritual.
Not the surface.
Not the polished lie you’ve been trained to swallow.

I stage betrayal.
On purpose.
In plain sight.

So you feel it…
Just a second too late.

A smear you almost miss.
A ribbon pulled too tight.
A gesture that holds-
Until it doesn’t.

I work in oil because nothing else lets me stretch control this far…
Without snapping it.

Every painting is a set-up.
Every object, a dare.
Every surface, a held breath.

I paint the violence we hide behind good manners.
I paint the moment before the mask slips.
I paint the thing you already feel-
But won’t name.

So I’ll name it.

And I’ll serve it to you-
Mezcal, not tea-
In the prettiest cup I can find.

Tereza Barnard (b. 1984) is a Czech painter based in Oxford, UK. Her staged betrayals- served in oil, not porcelain- have been exhibited internationally and collected worldwide.