When we reflect on childhood, most of us like to think our formative moments were ones of joy – staying up on your bike for the first time, winning the class spelling bee, finally triumphing against your big brother in a Thumbwar. The instances that truly form our adult selves, however, are often much darker and more subtle; these are the brief glimpses that painter Terrie Pipa seeks out in her exhibition, Small Gestures, at Project 4.

Pipa, a Renaissance-inspired realist trained in figurative painting, contributes both oil and watercolor pieces to the show, but the latter, which are small, few in number and tucked into the back corner of the gallery, are almost as forgettable as the artist and gallery seem intent on making them. Her oil paintings, on the other hand, are worth a lengthy visit. These feature mostly young children, who at first glance appear to be merely posing for their picture. Nothing is so simple, however, in these captured moments. These children don’t have the innocent gaze of youth, expectant only of the reward they hope to receive for sitting still for so long; their withering gazes reflect mature and complicated emotions – betrayal, sorrow, defiance.