Scissors 

Curator: The way the artist captured a pair of scissors in oil paint, it's striking! The heavy impasto creates an unexpected sense of depth for such a mundane object. It appears we don't know the exact date of origin for this oil painting entitled, *Scissors* by Dan Graziano. Editor: My initial response is…tension. A poised readiness, like a breath held right before the cut. Scissors, especially rendered with such heavy, almost sculptural brushstrokes, are potent symbols. The open blades suggest a severing, a choice, perhaps even an act of liberation or violence. Curator: Yes! It is this sense of violence I also felt in the painting. But what is it severing, really? In domestic spaces, scissors often enforce traditional roles - used for needlework, dressmaking. Here, elevated to art, it begs consideration. Whose work is valued? What labor is hidden, underappreciated? It subtly critiques domestic expectations and constraints. Editor: Precisely. And consider the visual symbolism. Scissors duplicate and invert, suggesting both division and creation, binary oppositions. Cutting, as an act, speaks to transformation and the wielding of agency. There is a disruptive force at play. A potential shift in power, as the operator gains the ability to deconstruct or reconstruct reality. Curator: You touched on something there I am interested in! Are the scissors gendered somehow? When viewed through a feminist lens, it evokes Judith Butler's ideas on performativity, how acts, seemingly small, reinforce power structures. Is this painting inviting us to re-evaluate these "common" objects? To cut away what constrains? Editor: An astute observation! In this work, notice how the stark light and deep shadows cast upon this utilitarian object transform it, suggesting darker interpretations about control, power and latent threat. Think of stories like Bluebeard, where a forbidden chamber reveals implements of past atrocities. Could that cultural anxiety, and metaphor for suppression be here? Curator: Perhaps by taking an overlooked instrument that facilitates all manner of "work," we arrive at a space where class, labor, and gender intersect to reveal quiet revolutions happening right under our noses, just waiting to cut against convention. Editor: Ultimately, art endows even the simplest object, like scissors, with extraordinary presence. They resonate long after you turn away.