Natura Morta

Two fish on a plate

Another ‘Natura Morta’ study. I tried to capture the residue of life in the eyes of the dead fish to create a haunting yet characterful composition.

Acrylic on canvas

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Gutted

In researching Dutch and Flemish Still Life paintings of the 16th and 17th Century I became fascinated by ‘Natura Morta’ the still life featuring decaying fruit, flowers and dead animals. The inevitability of death and the residue of ‘a life lived’ brought into a more modern composition showing a somewhat unhappy, disappointed (gutted) fish on a plate.

Acrylic on canvas

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Fish, mouse and cabbage.

My fascination with ‘Natura Morta’ continues into this more surreal composition which appropriates particular images from the works of Juan Sánchez Cotán and Clara Peeters. It was an experiment in juxtaposing two major artistic movements into one painting. Some of these earlier works have a strange quality which I tried to enhance by adding elements of surrealism to bring in the unexpected and disregarded. More dead fish!