Jayne Holsinger’s oil-on-panel paintings—previously praised for their “economy” and “concise beauty”—continue to evolve in complexity, as they movingly capture the spirit and humanity of her subjects. Her current series delves into Ms. Holsinger’s Anabaptist background and heritage to explore the simple lives of a Mennonite family and community in rural Pennsylvania, presented in the form of genre paintings. The works are photo-based, and rely on carefully rendered serial images from single sittings.

The care with which Ms. Holsinger paints imparts a spare and documentary directness that at the same time uncannily imbues her subjects with emotional resonance. Incidental details of distortion from wide angles and flash effects are evident in most of the paintings, making it clear that her sitters, frequently taken out of the context of time, are contemporary. Moreover, the perfection of detail manifested in the works comes across as almost emblematic of the people themselves in their orderly and austere environments and in their straightforward natures.

Furthermore, Ms. Holsinger mines art history to import recognizable visual references into some of the portraits. For example, a Van Gogh sunflower vase appears on the kitchen table behind a woman washing dishes at her sink in Mrs. Horst II, and a Dutch Flemish baroque floral arrangement can be seen in Martha II. The artist was encouraged to include such references upon learning that the 17th Century Dutch Mennonites sat for paintings by Rembrandt, patronized the arts, and became painters themselves.