Death on a Pale Horse 2018

Kushana Bush’s intricately detailed paintings borrow from different times and realities to depict a range of human interactions and behaviours — from acts of devotion and torture to erotic couplings. Offering a somewhat dystopian view of human relations, Bush addresses universal themes such as love and hate, revenge and salvation, devotion and rejection, good and evil, which resonate across cultures, geography and time. She draws on disparate influences, including Indian miniature painting, Japanese ukiyo-e prints, the rich world of European medieval manuscripts, and events from modern life. Her combinations of seemingly unrelated motifs — from urns and brooms to commercial logos — connect different historical periods, behaviours and cultures. Intimate in scale but dramatic in content, Bush’s painstakingly created compositions foreground a devotion to illuminating human behaviour.