Potatoes. Still. Life sets time in relation to natural processes. Previously forgotten, lifeless objects are infused with a "second breath".
The rigid, edible object transforms into a living, thriving plant. It sprouts and produces solanine - the coveted food becomes toxic and inedible. The progression of natural processes shapes its appearance and texture while serving as "agent" for my artistic intervention.
Along the lines of sculpture and photography I explore the relationship between nature and culture, between norm and abnormal. To this day, still life (French "nature morte" - "dead nature"), to which the title refers, often depicts symbolic subject matter. Potatoes in historical still lifes occasionally evoke their relevance as viands to prevent from starvation. The photographic still lifes of my work trace the question in how far and based upon which culturally imposed premise(s), we accept organic matter as either "natural" or deem it "unnatural"/ "abnormal".
The perception of nature and naturalness changes while its basic concept remains synonym for health and vitality.
The daily processing of potatoes as fast food imposes a rigid, hardly natural shape on them.
As aesthetic objects, the nightshade plants can be enjoyed in a different form. Their organic state before and after the photography was taken, is inscribed in the exhibited pictures as a universal, cultural reference (the knowledge of the viewer). The photography extracts the objects from progressing time and rearranges the plants in a sculptural context outside any concrete spatial room - only their two-dimensional representation and staging lets them exist.
