feast

Nucleus Portland, 2022

There is an odd sumptuousness in the commingling of attractive and repulsive textures. The Dutch term "pronkstilleven" for ornate or ostentatious still life feels synonymous to me with this sensation of strange attraction. Beyond the distinct moralizing symbols of vanitas paintings, pronkstilleven derives glamour equally from decay as it does from opulence. The compositions overflow with enticing accumulations of fish, flowers, and luxurious oddities arranged into a glimmering feast, capturing the irresistible allure of wasteful abundance. I am most interested in painting obscured moments of delicacy, pin-pricks of light confuse our sense of the subject and we are left desiring a glinting object we do not understand.

Nicole Duennebier, Jan 2022