Spring Daffodil 2021

Scott Fraser painted this daffodil in oil, and it just glows with a sense of quiet observation. The precision here is almost uncanny. I'm struck by how he’s built up the surface – the paint looks so smooth, like eggshell, yet with a depth that makes you want to reach out and touch it. The flower itself, that yellow, is so pure, but look closer and you'll see it's made up of many layers. Look how the petals catch the light, each one distinct, yet part of the whole. Then there's the pot, so ordinary, grounding the flower in reality. Fraser’s work reminds me of old Dutch still lifes, but with a modern twist. Like, what does it mean to slow down and really look at something? It's like he's asking us to question what we think we know about seeing.