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Artist statement

I question the idea of mediums and realities, using the history of still-life painting with New England imagery, specifically the fishing industry, as a pictorial vehicle. I am looking to combine photo, print, painting, and paper making to question the "ideals" and displays commonly shown within the history of still life. Three framed photos—each 60 inches x 60 inches—will examine the common language between the New England fishing-industry images, the vanitas paintings of the seventeenth century, and the renaissance display of goods commonly seen in advertisements today. As time has gone on and mediums have developed and changed, the concept within still-life painting remains focused on displaying goods and commerce (or lack thereof). Through appropriation and recontextualization, my aim is to question the meaning of a still life, in today's context. 

The fishing industry in southeast Connecticut is an example of how wealth can be cycled back into the community that produced it. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the area completely changes socioeconomically, with the ebb and flow of seasonal tourism. The idea is to use the imagery of my hometown to demonstrate a connection with the working class (as seen in Dutch vanitas paintings and depictions of the fishing industry). Juxtaposed with these images are those of cuisine and advertisement; a reflection of wealth, goods, and commerce as well as regional limitations (a problem within Dutch still-life culture).

What deeper meaning lies in the imagery of local shellfish, lobster, fish, and utensils, across the history of still-life painting? Can we recontextualize these images to recreate the faux-advertisements that are so relevant in today's culture? Should we? Looking at the push and pull created by harmony and disorder, specifically in the work of Willem Kalfand Pieter Claesz, I will arrange each table to be representative of the showcased item and borrow traditional elements from the history of the still life. Known traditionally as a "banquet piece," my work will simulate the seventeenth-century Dutch Golden Age. It is an homage to the history of still life, using modern methods of art making to recreate the scene. 

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