Table

In Table, the setup for a painterly still life is transformed into a sculptural meditation on the conditions of space. The work deftly yokes the transparency and permeability of the bottomless vessels with the opacity and solidity of the tabletop in which they are embedded. Overall, it presents as a unified object through which the eye can travel and space can flow unimpeded, at least until arriving at the lid of a cotton jar. This subtle interruption serves as a perceptual short circuit, bringing the deliberate spatial arrangements into focus.

The work follows a series in which Ray used the simple structure of a table as a site for exploring the complex sculptural dynamics of utilitarian objects. While these earlier iterations relied on the juxtaposition of items in a range of materials and occasionally included kinetic elements, here, all excess is expunged, distilling the relationship between forms and space into a liminal composition.