“McFarlane’s profound interest in creating mysterious, atmospheric paintings where interior spaces are haunted and illusive. In the former impressionistic light fills the cavernous chamber of a traditional bath house giving occasional glimpses of the architecture, such as the round-headed arch which frames the yellow glow of illumination in an inner passage, and torches such as that which tops the fancy, arabesque candle stick emerging on the left. The entire chamber, filled with reflected light, mist and steam, becomes a space without clear boundaries a space where the near and the far fade into and out of each other, where details disappear into blue-grey and blue-green vapors which deny solidity to the masonry of the bath.”
– Barry Gaither Director of the Museum of the National Center of African Artists, Boston
“Dimly lighted spaces bathed in mystery appear again in Interior from the Turkish Series. A vast dark, interior with views down vaulted hallways toward splashes of shimmering light, opens before us, revealing hints of colored light perhaps washed through a clerestory of colored glass. Like a great bathhouse, reflections enliven the floor and bounce back the light from an oculus overhead. No people appear, yet the cavernous space with its grand architecture washed by moody blue shadows, still exudes a sense of lingering human presence.”
– Barry Gaither Director of the Museum of the National Center of African Artists, Boston