Reclining comfortably, she draws you in with a slightly regal poise gazing through the night sky with quite assurance and strength. The curves of her body suggest the valleys and mounds of the Moon and her rounded face its circumference. Faint gray spots in the marble orb, exquisitely chiseled from hair to toes, are reminiscent of variations in the lunar surface. Taking in light, this personification of the Moon reflects it back to us as a confident woman.

This engages with a mystery likely to be regretted once uncovered. The young woman’s hands make questions abound. Is she covering her eyes to avoid seeing something about to happen or shielding them from having glimpsed something awful? Are tears or fears welling up in her un-viewable eyes? Whatever the cause, the detailed rendering of her hands, the knitted cuffs pulled up as if for protection, and raised wisps of soft hair expresses her vulnerability and dread. Ultimately, do “unseen” events every really go away?

Chin resting on arms crossed in a mix of frustration and boredom, a boy looks hopelessly at the outside where he used to go freely. Now a mask is required except at home. Toy cars and books have ceased to be of interest as covid stretches as long as the kitchen table, restricting his childhood. The boy is as entrapped indoors as the parakeets in their cage. Subtly interlayering still life and figurative work, this painting encapsulates an impact of the pandemic on youth.

The colorful, beribboned dolls bubbly reaching out to prospective owners, at first seem a distraction but are an important contrast. New and freshly made, the dolls emphasis the worn hands and weather lined face of their maker. Lit by a warm glow, the weary doll maker has a gentle smile and soft, life-affirming eyes despite years of toil. Unlike the fake expressions of the dolls, hers radiates the serenity of wisdom.

With an admirable economy of props and setting, a young teen in a moment alone at twilight reveals an inner sadness. Bowed head and shoulders slightly slumped, only his loosely clutched hands indicate his internal distress.