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Avital Burg, Cardboard Castle (courtesy of Slag Gallery)

A sense of recognition draws you to the canvas. Something you’re visually unaware of makes you feel comfortable, the way you’re not quite aware that the subtle smell of cinnamon in a cafe is reminding you of home. You’ve never felt a strong connection to the pale ladies of Dutch masters, adorned in enormous ruffled collars, ornate robes and golden curls, living in a time long ago and a land far away. But in artist Avital Burg‘s solo show “Standing on Cardboard” at Slag Gallery, something feels familiar. You take a closer look, and you’re whipped back into the present. You take a closer look, and realize within the luscious brush strokes and perfect portraiture, between the gorgeous shading of a large white collar upon a stoic young woman, is the tiny binder clip you were fiddling with all day in your cubicle.

We grow up trying to define the world around us based on the familiarity and comfort, a home base. We connect an identity to our parents’ last name, grandma’s pearls, dad’s box of post cards, mom’s perfume, or grandpa’s war stories, to provide some sort of basis for who we are when we go out into the world. For Avital Burg, growing up in the Middle East while trying to make sense of her European roots, hearing tales of kings, queens, and castles, seems to have laid the groundwork for some nostalgic and remarkable work. She interprets her family’s heritage through her paintings

Eleanor the Princess of McGuinness (Courtesy of Louis-Dreyfus Family Collection)

The overall point of view in the gallery is refreshing in it’s subtleties. Tiny still lifes of the mundane wrestle with past and present, as the most common  present day objects — a somewhat deflated water bottle, a spray bottle half full of green liquid, and a red solo cup of tea — are elevated and painted with the respect and expertise of a baroque master. The technical skill in which the items are crafted also contributes to the collection’s sense of whimsy. We can’t help but smile as we spot the clumsy unplugged cord winding out of a painting of a lamp that’s treated with the same attention to detail, shading, and consideration of light as a painting of an ancient Roman artifact.