Tybee Forks and Starts (E) 1978

Jan Groover made this photograph, "Tybee Forks and Starts," and I can just imagine her arranging these objects, shifting them slightly, looking through the lens. The colors are muted, silvery and cream, with hints of green and orange. It's like a still life painting, but with a saw, a knife, and a fork instead of fruit. I wonder what she was thinking, juxtaposing these everyday objects in such a formal way. There's a tension between the sharpness of the saw teeth and the domesticity of the cutlery. Her practice reminds me of Morandi, who spent his whole life painting the same bottles, but it also reminds me of the early 20th-century surrealists who were interested in the subconscious mind and the way that objects could take on new meanings when placed in unexpected combinations. Artists are always talking to each other, you know, across time and space. Jan Groover’s photograph invites me to slow down, to really look at the world around me, and to find beauty in the unexpected.