Group Show: ‘‘Still Life: A New Way of Looking at the Ordinary’’
(Hullabaloo Art Space, Cromwell)
The artist collective at Cromwell’s Hullabaloo Art Space has come together for a winter stilllife exhibition, and each interpretation of the concept is thoughtprovoking and clever. In their very different styles, many of the artists have approached the theme by taking elements of thriving, joyful life and preserving them in a perpetual state of stillness. Andi Regan’s Six
Mountain Daisies are like freshly picked flowers on the wall, and Sue Rutherford’s ceramic vessel Mountain Life captures the antics of figures snowboarding and skiing the craggy slopes of the bowl. Rachel Hirabayashi’s
Kettle is overrun with metallic flowers, as if an object has been abandoned and nature has taken over, the fragility of the subject matter contrasting with the hardy medium. Traditionally, stilllife compositions often include memento mori and vanitas symbolism, which became popular in the 17th century, centred in the belief that life on Earth was a preparation for life after death. Common symbols included skulls and hourglasses, to remind the viewer of their mortality, and items such as books and musical instruments to emphasise the ultimate unimportance of worldly goods. Several of the pieces in the show reflect those ideas, such as Lynne Wilson’s
Memorial Casket, on which bird and berry imagery, abundant with life, is positioned against the cool white ceramic, which is feathered with lines, as if age is creeping in.