First Aid Kit #3

Joshua Huyser examines single, ordinary objects and paints them in watercolor with photographic precision, isolated on the white paper. These seemingly simple exercises in observation offer the viewer a new way of seeing the world—showing beauty hidden in the mundane, the overlooked, and the discarded, and revealing bits of splendor and mystery to those who look for it. A vintage metal military first aid kit from Soviet-era Hungary is the subject of First Aid Kit #3. Obsolete, dented, with the paint chipping off, it is nonetheless a beautiful mid-century object of a bygone era. In focusing the eye on this singular object, a world and moment are neatly encapsulated. The kit’s sleek design embodies the Sputnik era—it could almost be an astronaut’s briefcase, save for the red cross. With an array of gray washes, the artist stunningly captures its battered, shiny patina; the box looks modern yet antique, indestructible but unsanitary.