The tea party in Christoph Ruckhaberle’s Untitled plays an optical illusion; this pleasant image deconstructs itself into a myriad of coloured components, oscillating between narrative scene and formalist abstraction. Christoph Ruckhaberle approaches this painting as a compositional jigsaw puzzle, each element an individually delineated shape filling a gap in the whole: L-shaped knees disjointedly connect to rectangular skirts and socks, geometric furnishings float without a sense of grounded order. Through subtle repetition of form, Ruckhaberle creates a systemic visual harmony; a contrived soothing comfort through which a surreal suspense passes almost unnoticed.