Worn in Service
Oil on cradled wood panel, framed in a shadowbox frame
50.8 × 50.8 cm (20 × 20 in)
My Dad’s bench.
A vessel designed to interrupt friction.
To extend function.
To delay failure.
The spout is dry. The body retains only residue, dark and persistent. The object no longer performs its task, but it continues to register having done so.
What remains is not motion, but maintenance. A record of attention applied quietly, repeatedly, and without recognition.
The can endures beyond usefulness, holding evidence of service rendered one careful gesture at a time.