Phyllis Berman's new work, on display at the Pepper Gallery in Boston, continues to refine the quiet surface order found in her earlier paintings but presents a broader range of thematic concerns. These large-scale, realist, still life interiors verge on abstraction, yet are remarkable for their crisply modeled forms and strict command of visual detail. Each painting is comprised as a dialogue between a handful of objects and their setting. The play of light and cast shadow upon an expansive wall gives these paintings an atmospheric clarity that is richly expressed through the balance of vibrant color against neutrals. Berman's paintings exhibit both pictorial tension and quiet stillness, and in this, they are reminiscent of Northern European painting. A Boston native, Berman holds BFA and MFA degrees from Boston University. She has exhibited throughout the Northeast and has been the recipient of a number of awards and grants, including a recent grant from the Artist Resource Trust. Other grants include those from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bunting Institute, and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation.