Distraction at the...

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on June 10, 2013 at 9:41am

Curator’s Comment:

 

Distraction at the Easel is a gorgeous realistic painting, as well as a smart sardonic play on the idea of representation as illusion.  The smooth and finely painted objects reverberate in the naturally constructed light, drawing the viewer’s attention to the minute details of the multi-reflective and scratched surfaces, such as reflective metal or chipped painted wood.  The small taped white sketch hovering over the primary still life is a little jewel within the trompe l’oeil arrangement.  The inclusion of the sketch as well as the stretched canvas painting as secondary subjects, which are slightly more stylized, next to the ‘actual’ still life objects brings humor and wit to the piece.  I also like that the large mass of shelled pistachios in the empty water bottle introduces an element of time to the piece.  As they are excluded from the formally boxed still life set up, and aren’t included in the easel painting, their existence can only be contributed to the artist.  There’s also a certain comicality to the obsessive/compulsive choice of distraction. The small shells demand the most attention because of their inherent need to be manually engaged, as opposed to the immobile and complete green jar and decorative shell/sea urchin. The torn paper label on the plastic water bottle also hints at diverted frustration- ironically rendering that particular  container less ‘pure’, and worthy of artistic depiction.