Ocotillo Shadows 

Curator: Let’s turn our attention to Carrie Graber’s painting, "Ocotillo Shadows." It’s a striking piece rendered in a realism style and is a perfect example of the plein-air tradition. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: Instantly, it feels like a hazy memory of a sun-soaked afternoon. There’s something incredibly inviting, yet also isolating about the figure's solitary presence beside the pool. It’s a scene suspended in time, you know? Almost a dreamlike feeling. Curator: I see that. Graber often engages with the dialogue between figure and landscape, particularly how constructed environments reflect ideas of leisure and the female form. Notice how the stark geometry of the wall contrasts with the organic forms of both the woman and the desert plant. Editor: The shadows really grab me. The Ocotillo’s silhouette creates this strange, almost gothic echo on the wall. The stark lines really pop against the sun-washed aesthetic of Southern California luxury. It feels almost voyeuristic. Curator: Yes, the artist utilizes light and shadow masterfully. And it begs the question, what statement is the artist trying to make, placing it into conversation with the surrounding landscape and, more broadly, Southern California architectural history? Editor: To me, the tension isn't academic, but personal. It reflects a subtle unease behind the shimmering surface. This sense of placid beauty feels ripe and fertile while juxtaposed by looming shadows. The woman teetering by the pool's edge also seems on the precipice of her own kind of reckoning. Curator: I appreciate your reading into the more psychological aspects, viewing the pool, plants and other landscape elements as stage sets of contemporary, private lives. Thanks to Graber's artwork, we're better informed about art as a form of reflection. Editor: Definitely, I leave with the sun, water and figure shimmering in my head for some time to come! It reminds me of quiet reflection.