artist statement

Still life painting both directs and captures the gaze. Worn enamel jugs and bowls suggest a human presence; books and autumn leaves speak of the passing of time.

The compositions are arranged over underlying geometries, space being as important as the objects depicted. The arrangements are highly constructed to amplify the visual presence and symbolic power of the objects in the scene. Looking straight on at a scene at eye level, instead of looking down at the tabletop, has a monumentalising effect.

Compositional forms such as the frieze, as well as tiered and layered arrangements, imply movement or a sequence of events.

The decorative and architectural balance implied in these forms also carries with it the notion of unbalance and chaos, as if something is about to happen.

This is what is interesting about the genre, the contemplative potential in it, the suggestion of the kinetic in the static, the metaphysical promise present in the very words 'still life'.

Crispin Akerman, June 2010