Presentation

Presentation in this series is all about the formal tradition of the still life image combined with an academic photo making process. The roots of still life painting and how that has influenced contemporary american still life photography leading to my work. 

The roots of the still life as a genre reach far back in the western tradition. The earliest examples of what would become still life painting come from the funerary documents of Egypt. Shown as illustrations on papyrus scrolls of the Book of the Dead, relief sculpture and wall paintings in tombs the earliest still life images depicted offerings of to gods. The diagrams would illuminate the offerings that were mummified with the deceased to help the spirit transition to the afterlife.

In french the word for the dead is morte, the still life is known as a Nature Morte.

Still life painting as we know it began in the 16th century in the Netherlands. The painters of that time began to experiment with early camera technology, the camera obscura, which enabled stunning levels detail to be rendered. A distinctive characteristic of paintings from this period thought to be from the camera obscuras fixed point of view would define the compositional foundations of the still life genre and influence it to this day.   

Time II

Only using a visual image as a simplification of a concept when language is insufficient often falls short of my expectations. This is rooted in my childhood experiences living abroad. I grew up in a military family, the brat lifestyle was nomadic. The chaos of change was omnipresent. It’s accompaniment was often loss of friends, possessions and sense of belonging. Starting over every few years was normal. The wanderlust of these years would stick with me until I settled in New York City. During my early education we were relocated to Germany. The signage was in a foreign tongue. It was disorienting but had vibrations of the familiar. The letters were the same 26 I learned a few years earlier but their arrangement wasn’t decipherable. Often the exception came from advertising. I knew what advertising was selling me while being unable to ask for directions.

The energy of my compositions radiates from outside to inside in these still lifes. It is my direct translation of NYC during the pandemic. The outside world was threatening our lives. Everywhere I looked I saw the grave consequences associated with the coronavirus. Some evenings the world rang out flashing sirens. Bike rides around the city were eerily vacant. Any people we saw were avoided by a large berth. In the evenings we clapped our hands outside of open windows in appreciation of healthcare workers. Secretly we were letting the world know that we are still alive.

Time

In this series I was exploring my memory of a traumatic event. The process of creating artwork while in the midst of the memory being made. Throughout my life I’ve had a spark of recalling an event at random. My specific brain chemistry loves to identify synchronicity. Often silly minutiae spark a profound deja vu. A crumpled foil bag of chips takes on the role of a marker representing that I am on the correct path in life. When these synapses fire this way I am reassured that with the things and people involved everything will be OK.

The idea of memory is explored on the periphery of the work. Most of the connections that I have made during the creation of this work are recognized looking back at the series.

“Empty” is a still life photographic series created during a definitive time in American history. It was begun in sync with the emergence of the Covid-19 global pandemic. At the time I was living in the epicenter of The United States outbreak. This new series began at random but as it progressed milestones (i.e. shoot days, painting days, etc) began to coincide with developments in dealing with the trauma surrounding its beginning. 

The Covid-19 pandemic hit the USA while I was living in Queens, NY. The world outside my one bedroom apartment was a blaze with viral uncertainty. I retreated inwards. Every surface hot with threat, electrified with the fear of sickness and transmission. My home became a fortification against the unseen. The days became strange markers of coping routines. Wake up, don't get dressed for the day, pajamas are fine, get comfortable, grasp information on how to stay safe, talk to family on the phone, cocktails at 5, dinner, snacks, sweets... I began making the series that you are seeing as a response to the retreat into pattern.

Composition

As if the shapes are punched out of the minimalist sets. In some of the compositions it is as if the subjects are there to function as additional subtractive elements. Creating voids that give relief from the energetic setting. While acting as a visual counterpoint the opaque function as a balancing element. Further the use of black and white establish the additive and subtractive color mixing that inspired the root nature of the series.  

Balance

The stillness of the subjects is a welcome element of balance. It is a contrast to the setting that vibrates with visual energy. The subjects are calm in the storm.

Evoking a meditation of stillness and balance in a chaotic environment. Peaceful and calm the objects are lost in the rhythm created by the environment. It is a restful place that provides a sense of safety. A clash between the Italian traditions of colore and designo.  

The grounded figures/objects lending stability to an overwhelming amount of visual energy.  Overall the subjects being grounded in the scene is a balancing element. The strong connection of the figure to the ground adds weight to the objects. As an artistic decision it reduces tension overall while opening the door for it to be created by the interaction of the objects themselves.The idea of balance is seen quite literally in the photographs where objects are stacked precariously. Tension is created through a tug of war with the visual.

Solid effects when using contrasting objects and backgrounds… white on black or black on white. The compositions are quite distinct based on the binary black and white contrast but were lacking dimension when texture was lost. I think that the setups would be lacking visual interest if the background foreground was strictly a black and white choice. The visual movement would be lacking balance and energy in a distinctive way. It is unknown how successful a visual exploration using solid colored objects in a similarly colored setting could be. Therefore the question of using contrasting relationships is only partially explored in this series.

Objects

The lack of color in the subjects creates a void of calm. The objects have been painted using the colors of mourning. I’ve only noticed it in hindsight after the series has come to a conclusion. This may have been a subconscious choice to acknowledge the grave state of life in New York City. 

Having been exposed to the black paintings of Pierre Soulages was a source of inspiration for this series, hearkening back to the all encompassing nature of black in color. The way black is created using a heavy mixture of all colors allows the background to reflect in interesting ways on the surface of the objects. The heavy encaustic paint that Soulages used to create his works acted as foggy mirrors in black. The reflective surfaces of the paintings abstracted the colors of the environment where they were seen, revealing the totality of the color black. The all black compositions of Louise Nevelson as ever present fixtures in most modern art museums were often seen on my periphery trips but not acknowledged in the research phase of this project. Unconsciously I have created tableau that would easily nest within her monochromatic assemblages. The small assemblages I have assembled fit in the worlds created by her shelving and cabinetry.  

The choice to use white as a main color in this series ties to its classical symbolic associations with Order, reason, purity and truth. In this series the use of white was primarily to create a binary color relationship with black representing light and dark, the passage of day and night through the pandemic. Mimicking the subtle changes in the monotony of quarantine.

Empty vessels hidden through opaque coatings of paint. The idea of an object designed for holding being absent of that contents is a fun visual trope. Often in the photograph we use trickery to produce the ideal version of something for the fractional moment needed to record it. In response to the deception of a photographed object I choose to cover the imperfections in dense paint to make it a perfect version that has lost function beyond the image it's used for. 

The objects in white represent the punched holes on the edges. Further pushing the idea of the lines seen in the foreground and background of the compositions representing the blank page of school paper. The white on white or black on black compositions create voids in the lines similarly to the three hole punch on notebook paper. 

The limited exchange between the object or figures and the setting is extreme in its limitation. “No, exchange, no seepage, no spillage. Rather: isolation, confinement” (Batchelor 21). Illustrated in part by the restraint in object selection. Most of the objects are uniquely bland in their everydayness easily cast aside but omnipresent. The most significant defining characteristic of the separation between the subject and setting is found in the contrast in color between the two. Removing all color on the object or using all of them to the max depending on your ideas of additive and subtractive processes results in an unsettling border between the two.

Combining objects that hold (vessels) with instruments for consumption the conclusion of emptiness is suggested. In support of the object selections value in creating a relationship that implies the act of consuming a memory. The spoon with a bottle is common place enough to be a universal shared subliminal experience understood immediately to most. This leads the viewer to assume that these objects were used in the act of emptying. In some cases the objects are paired incorrectly as a symbol of frustration and futility. The impotence of trying to move a thing with a single strand of uncooked creates a tenuous lightness established between the vessels. 

Emptiness communicated through the vessels being open and void of contents. The idea of emptiness is seen in these works quite literally in several ways. The images consist of a very limited color palette. The elemental objects that are the subject of the images are only black and white. Acting as visual representations of the additive and subtractive color pallets used during the photographic process begun through light and finished with ink. Any object that acts as a vessel is physically emptied of its contents. These bottles, jars or cans are seen in a way that would normally leave that question ambiguously answered immediately through the title of the series. You cannot see whether on not anything remains in the containers but the viewer can be sure that the objects are not full to the brim. Bringing the question how little must remain in the container to qualify as empty.

Lines / Stripes

The use of line creates an aura of enclosure through toughness in repetition. The repeating lines seen are fences/window bars are evoked in the use of line. The associated idea of enclosure isn’t far fetched when using lines. The work similarly creates what could be abstracted slats in a quantum world.

The foreground and background are colored stripes that create a rhythm similar to the monotony experienced over the last year. The repeating lines work as an element of sameness that unifies the black and white stand-ins for daytime and nighttime. Throughout the series the set colors shift from composition to composition but the palette is intentionally limited colors as another way to emphasize the similarities day in and day out.

The concept of earning stripes, proving that on the Künstlerroman progress is being made. The stripe when found in the natural environment specifically on animals works as camouflage. A repeating pattern breaks up the silhouette of the wearer/animal. This creates the appearance that many have become a single unit when in a group. In the case of the individual the stripe creates a blending effect for example with a tiger in tall grass.

Line work creates stability... hearkening(?) a sense of order and discipline through rigid angles. Order and discipline was established through perpendicular lines and strong relationships during the Egyptian dynasties. I have taken the idea of order and discipline and amplified it through repetition, angle and color. Creating an oppressive energy that places weight on to the solid colored objects. What has its origin in stability has became threatening with visual energy. Similarly the venomous amphibians of the amazon display colored patterns that warn with visual cues.

Colored Stripes are evocative of the lines on writing paper, implying there is a story waiting to be written in the background of these compositions. A series of repeating lines represents so many things in these photographs. A blank sheet of writing paper scored with vast stretches of imaginative possibilities. The heavy energy of repetition creating a palimpsest of what indistinguishable daily life became. Outside the safety of the rooms of our apartment the world became a threatening series of surfaces, all of them glowing to me like the memory of the first stove's touch. The lines came to represent the bars that we imprisoned ourselves with over the course of the making of the series.  

The lines also represent a stage of development… i.e. writing, early education, learning to create written language in schooling. The lines are an early memory of learning. During the first year of studies in America, referred to as Kindergarten from the German Kinder which translates to child and garten which translates to garden, implying this is where childhood is nurtured through interaction and education,  the standard of working within the lines is introduced. This is where I learned that shape can have corresponding sound. Taking this idea to the visual arts I’m exploring where basic shape can have corresponding emotional resonance.

When learning the principles of design as a student the exercises are almost uniformly taught in absence of the element of color. Allowing the focus to rest on the line, repetition, etc.