Painting on Eggshells: Kristin Calabrese at Louise Alexander Gallery / AF Projects

“It’s so easy. It just flows. Without effort—effortless,” reads a mantra assiduously repeated in various fonts in the background of Kristin Calabrese’s painting How Things Feel (2021). Yet despite their airy appearance, the artist’s illusionistic canvases depicting stylized text and mundane objects are anything but effortless, sometimes taking years to complete. Compounding this “easy” painting’s ironic undertones, its title is boldly emblazo