This acrylic and oil painting from 2015 is called Engine Study I. It is 4 feet wide and 5 feet tall. The painting resembles a standard diagrammatic image with lines extending from the engine parts to identifying italicized text. However, the text is not relevant to the engine. Instead, it presents a selection of words and phrases that were relevant to Avery at the time of painting. Instead of text, one line terminates with a Bluetooth symbol and another with a straight-mouthed face emoji. The engine is painted with oranges, blues, pinks, and reds. A dark red contour line defines the edges and interior details of the engine. A top-to-bottom, blue-red-yellow gradient fills the background.

Some of the details in Engine Study I. We see the belts, cams, covers, and gaskets on the left side of the engine. This close-up image reveals the varied quality of the brushstrokes and thickness of the paint. The red lines and italicized text, for example, are less tidy in this zoomed-in image. The lines occasionally blob or wisp, demonstrating a heavy hand or a hurried end stroke. Under some of the text are visible circular smudges of paint, indicating incomplete removal of red paint. With regards to the application of paint, in some areas raised, shiny brushstrokes indicate thickness and, in other areas, translucency reveals underpainting and thinness.

The award-style plaque for Engine Study I next to a portion of the painting. Each Engine Study painting has its own laser-etched metal plaque, which is mounted on dark wood with a beveled edge. Each plaque contains internet-style comments from fictional characters about the adjacent painting, as well as the like/dislike metrics concerning each comment, indicated with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down symbol and a number.

This acrylic and oil painting from 2015 is called Engine Study II. It measures 4 feet wide and 5 feet tall. Like the first painting in the Engine Study series, this second painting resembles a standard diagrammatic image with lines extending from the engine parts to identifying italicized text. Like the first painting, the text has nothing to do with the engine. Instead, the words reflect a sampling of Avery's associations with race in the United States at the time of painting. The engine is painted with oranges, greens, and blues. A burgundy contour line defines the edges and interior details of the engine. Mustard yellow is used for the diagrammatic lines. A light brown is used for the identifying text. A top-to-bottom, blue-to-yellow gradient fills the background.

A close-up photograph of Engine Study II. In this image, taken from a slight angle, the texture and irregularity of the lines is more visible. The lines (of the diagram, the text, and the engine's contour) fluctuate in thickness and density; in many areas the painting's background gradient is visible through the mottled lines. This image is mostly yellow: a highlighter yellow background covered with a web of mustard yellow lines. At the top of the painting, the lines cross over the bottom portion of the engine, painted with oranges, greens, blues, and maroons.

The fourth in the Engine Studies series, this acrylic and oil painting measures about two feet wide and 3 feet high. Engine Study IV was commissioned by James Wood as a gift for Felicity Hannay. In this physically smaller Engine Study painting, a lawnmower engine is depicted in diagrammatic form. The background gradient, from top to bottom, flows from blue through cream to green. As if suspended between the identifying text and various parts of the engine, pink lines dangle, pulled by gravity, creating a collection of nadirs that overlap the engine toward the bottom of the canvas. The engine is mostly olive green with moments of pink, blue, white, and yellow. Burgundy lines define the contours and details of the engine. The text, which samples Avery's associations with immigration at the time of painting, is red.

A close-up image showing the details of a painting of a diagram of a lawnmower engine.

A close-up photograph of Engine Study IV. In this image, raking light reveals the texture of the canvas and paint, as well as the irregularity of the lines in the image. At more of a distance, the lines of the diagram and text come across as computer-rendered. In this image, you notice the brushstrokes, the blobs of paint, the thin areas, the moments of muddied color. Each surface of this painted lawnmower engine has a dominant color: the top-facing surface is light blue, the left-facing surface is salmon pink, the front-facing surface is olive green with hints of brown.