We try to avoid it

“Self Scrutiny” (oil on canvas), by James Rauchman, in his show “Self: Reflection,’’ at River Arts in the Folley Hall Gallery, in Morrisville, Vt.

The gallery says the paintings show the Morrisville resident’s experiences “with being an outsider—a gay man and an artist—and reflect on identity within the context of a society not quite able (or ready) to accept him.” The paintings are meant to capture the artist’s identity and experience while blending the physical and abstract; external and internal.

Downtown Morrisville, Vt.

Prosperous Morrisville in 1889.