Coy Koi 

Carrie Graber painted Coy Koi in the twenty-first century, with oils on canvas. Here, Graber uses traditional materials to capture a contemporary scene. The glossy surfaces of the architecture are echoed in the sheen of the oil paint. But more than just capturing the aesthetic, Graber also nods to the socioeconomic world of her subject. This type of landscape architecture requires a great deal of labor to maintain. The choice of oil on canvas is interesting when considered from this perspective, because of its historical association with wealth. For centuries, oil painting was a luxury good. Now, it is far more accessible, yet still carries that cultural memory. By painting this image in oil, Graber bridges the gap between the high-end architecture and the artistic medium. The combination invites us to consider the labor, materials, and social context that shape the world around us.