Untitled 

Here's a still life rendered in oil on canvas by Zoe Lerman. Note the material richness; Lerman coaxes a range of effects from the paint, from buttery highlights on the lemons to gauzy transparency in the background. The act of painting itself can be seen as a kind of labor. The artist carefully selected her objects – the cut lemons, the vases, the sprigs of berries. She then arranged them, and slowly built up the image through careful looking and application. Oil paint is particularly suited to this extended process, allowing for corrections, adjustments, and subtle modulations of color. Consider the tradition of still life itself. It is both a celebration of material abundance, and a reminder of its transience. Lerman engages with this history, while also asserting the value of artistic labor – the time and skill required to transform everyday objects into a lasting image. This challenges any strict boundary between art and craft, high and low.