Mixed Media on Paper - Seance by James Edward Scherbarth

Five pebbles hover in a row above an empty boat, as if waiting to be called aboard.

This mixed media on paper, Seance, is by James Edward Scherbarth, dated 2020, signed and dated 12-21-2020 on verso. Arrangements of humble objects have long invited viewers to read meaning into their placement, and a well-spaced row can feel almost ceremonial. Five small stones in pink-gray and mauve float across the upper sheet, the middle one marked with a spiral. Below them sits a long, open hull, pale inside and shaded to charcoal underneath. Everything else is left as bare white paper. It is 16 inches wide and 12 high.

Very quiet company, which seems to be the point.