The Tides 2021

Carrie Graber made "The Tides" with what looks like oil paint, and you can almost smell the salt air coming off this painting. I imagine Graber standing back from the canvas, squinting at the light as she works the tones of the rock, trying to capture the feeling of being right there on the beach. The light is really doing a dance on that rock! The way the figure is placed there, kind of contemplative, but also a little hidden by the patterned garment, makes you think about how we’re all just trying to find our place in the landscape. The way the painting is rendered, with this smooth, almost photographic realism, creates an interesting tension. It's as if Graber is asking: What does it mean to capture a moment in paint? How can we fix the ephemeral? It reminds me of the work of Gerhard Richter, who uses photography and painting to explore the nature of seeing and memory. Graber's piece is a reminder that painting, at its best, is a way of thinking through the world, one brushstroke at a time.