'New Colonial': How can the still life genre confront its past?

Abstract

Rooted in the long-established traditions of European still life painting, my fine art photography is an attempt to reinvigorate the genre as a vehicle for social critique and inter-personal understanding. Although my thematic scope has previously explored issues such as familial loss and absence; the hidden narratives of found items; and the problematic culture of bodily enhancement products, my current project, New Colonial, is more overtly political and an articulation of my uneasy relationship with the history of the still life genre itself. The project is divided into two series (Curiosities and Souvenirs) both of which explore issues of historical and contemporary colonialism, consumerism and power. This paper, therefore, will provide insight not only into the project's conceptual underpinnings, but also the way in which my visual and technical processes are a direct response to art history and on-going cultural phenomena.