This is not a painting. It is an incredibly intricate tapestry woven in 2020 titled Gebunden II or 'bound'--by Christina Forrer, born in Zurich but part of this year's Made in LA at the Hammer Museum (she has a companion piece at the Huntington). Known for her work that features conflict and debate, she still actually gives the impression of people being inextricably connected to each other.

The startled, wide-eyed reactions of the multi-generational participants--it seems like a great, big sprawling 21st century modern, mixed family--made me think of how our notion of 'nuclear' family today means something quite different from the two parents and two adults that was once the more common definition.

Forrer also paints, but the execution of any tapestry always has confounded me, and I admire the craft as much as the imagery.