Bird on a Wire 

Carrie Graber's painting presents a woman lounging poolside, caught in a moment of leisure, yet the scene evokes a sense of unease. The martini glass at her side, a symbol of modern relaxation, echoes motifs of ancient Greek symposiums. However, there is a twist: the woman is alone, self-contained. This evokes a sense of isolation amidst apparent comfort, a feeling that has haunted artists since the Renaissance. The water, typically a symbol of cleansing and rebirth, appears still, reflecting a world that seems stagnant. Consider how similar motifs, like the reclining figure, appear in works from Titian to Manet. They recur, yet the context shifts. The woman's casual pose, with a magazine obscuring her face, could almost reference the story of Narcissus. This invokes a sense of self-absorption, a theme deeply rooted in our collective memory, one that Freud might argue stems from the subconscious mirroring of our own self-image. It’s as if the artist captures a modern echo of a timeless pursuit of pleasure, tinged with an awareness of its potential emptiness.