Still Life Images
This body of work navigates the interplay between the still life genre and the complexities of human experience, drawing upon diverse visual elements to evoke introspection and contemplation. They are an interpretation of vanitas still life images imbued with a dark sense of humor; contemporary memento mori pieces related to everyday life. I am exploring the cyclical nature of life, reflecting upon the contrast of my children’s youthful exuberance and the overwhelming presence of my failures as a husband, a father/provider, an artist, and an educator. A general sense of ennui permeates the work as I struggle to find my place in the world and inject meaning into my life.
The small and intricate scale forces the viewer to approach and inspect the artwork closely, examine the details, and consider the labor involved. I find creating artwork to be contemplative and self-reflexive, and the scale imparts that experience onto the viewer. The mood is bleak, and there is a pessimism that borders on the nihilistic. These still life images also examine the underlying vulnerabilities and uncertainties that define our collective human experience by exploring the limitations of written language (expressed in Latin or nonsense portmanteaus). Juxtaposing the playfulness of childhood toys with the stark reminder of our mortality, I underscore the loss of youthful desires with the impact of unfulfilled expectations.
What began as a self-deprecating look at the awkward, everyday objects that were present in my life became a document tracing pre-pandemic despair, to an isolated anxiety filled pandemic, to a post-pandemic landscape filled with a seemingly endless barrage of existential threats. The divisiveness and binary nature of contemporary American politics has infiltrated my art, along with mid-life crises and post-pandemic anxiety, adding to a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. I am overcome by our current economic system and the depressing reality that I cannot provide a better life for my children than my parents were able to give me.
