What Really Matters speaks to what is noticed upon first glance and asks if the significant whole was perceived in that moment. The diptych of weathered slates, etched and painted with gold leaf, act as reverse mirrors for each other. Each has identical imagery, except that the opposite elements are given prominent treatment in the compositions.

The secondary element on each side is invisible in some light, obvious in other light. Backed by whitewashed barn wood, and set in an old window frame, the ordinariness of daily life is brought into the question raised. For it is not merely the first glance in question, but the whole of our perception.

Nature and home, attachment and existence, potential and presence; all coexist in this gentle work. The piece pulses, requesting attention be paid toward each side, raising the question of what really matters; that which provides the foundation for a life or the new life itself.

K. M. Ehrenfeldt, 2000