Mary Jo Vath’s recent work displays the inherent modesty of still life painting as it compels the viewer to look closely at the act of perception. She uses the tradition of objects and their arrangement to peel away the ordinarily thin veneer of the everyday; it is elevated state of perception that occurs.

With this emphasis comes transformation, with conversation, relationship. Vath’s imagery is at once intimate and dark, meditative and quiet. The act of looking alters common, thrift store props into talismans of luminosity and understanding. The tradition of still life painting is enlivened by a distinctly perceptive ordinariness. Vath’s work is dynamic and constant in its shifts, provoking to the viewer to define and redefine, making the tradition clear, yet unquestionably fresh.