Going to Heaven 1993

Glennray Tutor painted this uncanny still life, Going to Heaven, and what strikes me most is the artist's hand, revealing an approach so rooted in realism that it seems to reach beyond the photograph. I imagine him setting up this shot, working from life, and I can almost see him trying to capture every glint and shadow across each individual gumball. The glass jar is so real, the detail, the reflection, the refraction of light…it has a warped, almost unsettling, hyper-real quality to it. Look at the rainbow of color across the glass. The paint is applied meticulously, layer upon layer, to build up depth and luminosity, the surface so smooth. There's a palpable sense of time and care involved in this work, a devotion to capturing the essence of the subject. We know that Tutor greatly admired the work of Wayne Thiebaud; I see this, too, in this painting's ability to elevate the mundane into something extraordinary.