Xico Greenwald reviews three New York painting shows: Place and Passage: Elisa Jensen & Ruth Miller at the New York Studio School (through April 5), Eleanor Ray: Paintings at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects (through April 20), Standing on Cardboard: Avital Burg at Slag Gallery (through April 3, 2014).

Greenwald writes: “Jensen paints trendy figures on street corners in Williamsburg and Greenpoint while Miller’s subjects are gourds and cabbages, ceramic jugs and kitchenware, both artists elevate their subject matter to the timeless, depicting light with rare feeling… [Ray’s] Everyday scenes, including café interiors, abandoned city lots and a broken umbrella in a snowbank, are soulfully composed on small panels, none larger than 7 inches in any direction, rendered with deft, delicate strokes… [Burg] makes dreamy cardboard maquettes of castles and Ferris wheels in her Brooklyn studio and then paints her cardboard creations with a straightforward touch.”