Dusk and Good Company 2022

Carrie Graber made this painting, "Dusk and Good Company," and you can see how she’s really thinking about light, bathing everything in this warm, late-afternoon glow. You can see the process in the way she builds up the forms with these deliberate, even strokes. The materiality of this piece is remarkable; the paint is applied so smoothly, creating surfaces that feel almost like polished wood. The color palette is mostly warm yellows, golds, and browns, which give the scene a sense of calm. But look at the way Graber handles the light reflecting off the glass surfaces; they're not just mimicking reality but amplifying it, almost dreamlike. It reminds me how Fairfield Porter uses light to bring a quiet intensity to his domestic scenes. The way Graber uses color and light to create depth is really something. It suggests a narrative but leaves so much open to interpretation. It is not necessarily just a painting of a room but a painting that makes you feel like you're experiencing a certain quality of light, memory, and connection.