Still and lively

Still life paintings

I have always wondered why this painting ‘genre’ is called ‘still life’ (in my mother tongue – ‘dead nature’ – literally)?

The snippets of table arrangements, flowers in a window sill, fruits gathered in bowls, kitchen and dining ware are all equally lively as the ‘living’ nature, social scenes, faces or figures.  Arranging compositions of objects to balance, light sneaking in or permeating, unexpected appearances of ‘out of place’ items – oh, there is so much more to still life than meets the eye..

The ‘genre’ often implies rusticity, shabby charm, domestic life…yet the theme can be rendered in a variety of ways – from ‘classical’ to Cézanne, from abstract to conceptual.

In the triptych ‘Apples and Oranges’ from the Project Orange, I experimented with (round) object placements into a floating space loosely grounded by bold color-block backgrounds…still life was merely ‘an excuse’ for…well, a pretty ‘academic’ excercise.

This time around, I ventured into different still-life renderings – reflecting ‘moods’ of arrangements – bold and modern, rustic or washed-away, Zen…

The series is made by monotype printing technique combined with acrylic pen drawing on the gel plate. Lifted from the plate, these drawings/paintings become roughed-up, weathered, irregular, faded – a very nostalgic look. Triggering a dilemma whether to leave them as such, unfinished, in their ‘meant to be’ state, or to refine them, correcting imperfections inherent in drawing on a wobbly surface and of an unpredictable paper transfer. Aiming for different ‘moods’, I practiced both – preserving rusticity of the medium or adding utterly modern compositions and bold colors. A lively series of small, fast, experimental paintings, a tribute to a still-life appeal.