We are presented with exactly what the title describes: a pothole diver. She pops out after busily scrubbing away the gunk underground. I interpreted the painting to be of someone who enters the sewer pipes of our minds to clean out all the underlying issues from our past that are unresolved, like how a psychologist might do so. Or perhaps the sewer pipes of our bodies, like a urologist.
Calenzo explains “It’s funny how the virus has changed my reading of it. It used to represent a willingness to probe under the surface in a quest for the truth. But now I see it tied into our current need for respirators and social-distancing. An accurate view of this painting might take a while.”
