Joie de Vivre 2021

Curator: Carrie Graber's acrylic-on-canvas artwork, “Joie de Vivre” from 2021, presents a striking contemporary take on portraiture. Editor: What grabs me immediately is the stylized serenity. The colors are so precise. The angular pose set against those creamy, pastel curves—it's simultaneously classic and modern. Curator: Absolutely, and it’s worth noting the composition, how the sharp lines of the convertible interior and the figure's crisp white outfit create a visual scaffolding. It almost resembles a highly structured stage set. Note the deliberate placement of the shadow. Editor: This certainly invokes the iconography of old Hollywood glamor. The headscarf, the shades, and the convertible…they're almost like talismans, instantly transporting you to a specific era and set of associations – freedom, wealth, and perhaps a certain carelessness. But it's interesting, the face is partly obscured; we aren’t quite getting the full picture, the narrative. Curator: Precisely. While it nods to recognizable visual tropes, the exaggeration of form teeters towards caricature, dismantling any simplistic reading. The artist forces you to really *see* the image, instead of simply recognizing the references. How the figure becomes almost abstracted, the sleek material emphasizing light and planes, but at the same time suggesting both liberation and containment. Editor: I agree; and it makes me think about modern ideals. There's a feeling of aspirational beauty and perhaps its contradictions; that perfectly posed shot meant to be interpreted a certain way, almost a contemporary Venus in her shell, if you will, framed and contextualized with trappings of an American mythos. Curator: Indeed, this layering—using familiar signs to probe at more profound ideas related to constructed identities is where its meaning becomes deeply affecting, I think. Editor: It has certainly offered me much to reflect upon; the relationship between symbol and form becomes something of a balancing act. Curator: A pleasure exploring this image with you and unpicking the layers present within.