With the sun glowing more on our skin and the gentle yet frosty wind brushing against our face, we can be sure that spring is here. As the restrictions we have been living under start to ease, we begin to plot activities, trips, and gatherings effortlessly in our minds. Eagerness and gratitude accumulate instantly within us at these thoughts. Similar to the sunlight pouring through our windows, our vibrant energy broadens to the people around us. In this unrolling of excitement, we must remind ourselves to breathe and offer space and time to those who need more time to ease into the engaging space we have created.
The concept of there being a pause on the activities we do so freely allows us to notice meaning in objects that we did not see before. With this perception, I turned to still-life. A still-life refers to artwork focusing on a variety of man-made and/or organic objects.
During the seventeenth century, this form of art was considered lowly due to its lack of human subject matter. Today, the absence of interaction only draws us closer to this belief as we notice the power of being surrounded by a supportive group. However, by withdrawing from hoarding objects and carefully picking the ones that mean most to us, we can hand value to still-life.
To delve into the activities I miss, I started creating a list. It includes going out for a meal, a visit to an art gallery, participate in an in-person dance class and a long walk. I expect each of our lists is somewhat different and that in itself is exciting. As I stared at my list, I began to notice how I have been on my feet endlessly. What was a sudden pause, allowed me to sit. While this is concept is not a revelation to many, I want to let this concept sink in.
To capture this appreciation for the needful pause, I headed towards a pair of trainers. As unusual as it sounds, it took me a moment to grasp how worn out they have become. The bold folds spoke for the difficult yet unconfined movement within dance, and the embedded dirt provided a glimpse at all the cut corners to arrive at the destination just a little quicker. Soon this contemplation motivated me to generate compositions for a series of still-life photography in my mind.
The arrangement of flowers and trainers above allows the photographs to appear unfamiliar. The emerging flowers intend to replicate the concept of liveliness found within our hobbies. It can also be seen that the replacement of a vase with a trainer is unsuitable and encourages the flowers to wilt. The wilting of these flowers speak for finding resources to sustain energy and growth. Similarly, the pauses we take compels us to notice the environment we have placed ourselves in and the resources we need to maintain growth.
I went ahead with experimenting with various compositions including a carefree trainer on its side and a couple of surrounding flowers. This gave room to build this concept of pause and patience. Conversely, the close-up photographs and bird's eye view of the trainers crowded with flowers draw more attention to the colours, such as the deep orange petals. These colours allow feelings of enthusiasm to arise.
Where many of my artwork focuses on humans as the subject matter, the contrasting photographs I had taken convinced me to practice a still-life drawing. The unfamiliarity with drawing trainers naturally allowed me to feel anxious yet excited.
By following my usual procedure of breaking the subject into irregular shapes, combined with identifying the relationship between the elements of a trainer, I was able to give my best attempt!
Whilst this is not my first time writing about breaks and combining nature into my work, the process of exploring with still-life photography and drawing encouraged me to look beyond the subject as just objects and tap into the emotions and ideas they can represent.
You can see more photographs from my experimentation with still-life here!
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