Garlic Scapes

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on October 8, 2023 at 4:13pm

Thank you for responding!  I've missed seeing your work on the site, though admittedly I live with your earlier physical prints everyday.

I'm glad you're still making still life pictures with the collodion wet plate process. The subject and media appear intertwined, and suit your unique visual voice. I'll look forward to seeing what comes next.

Comment by Joseph Deiss on October 7, 2023 at 5:50pm

Thank you for the kind words… I’ve been making still-life images using the collodion wet-plate process since 2011 (after studying the process and teaching myself how to make plates). The objects of these images have come from years of collecting (the first – a head and shoulders sculpture of a hooded man was made when I was in my sophomore year in high school). I have 13 bookshelves, 4 other shelves and 3 cabinets in my work area/library. Most of the available surfaces are covered by the objects I have been using for still-life images (including various dried plants). I often move some to get at a book I want to look at. My collections of curios… I grew the garlic scapes especially for this still-life. While I haven’t made any still-life images for the last three years, I do have some planned for the future. I’ve added another still-life: “The Last Red Pepper”.

Comment by Resident Curator on October 6, 2023 at 4:54pm

Curator’s Comments:

I stumbled across the photograph Garlic Scapes recently, and have held the thought that the plants are pure, elegant line made visible.  The theatrically arcing stems come back down, pointing the viewer back to the modest still life objects.  For me, the piece is both reminiscent of a sensual Mapplethorpe floral image, with vestiges of early Victorian daguerreotypes of a curio of curiosities.  The glossy black handled vase central to the piece takes on a figural component. The edges of the work nicely function as a formal frame, containing the floating objects within the larger area of blackness.  This may reveal the collodion wet plate process of coating of the plate. I have admired your studio practice for many years now, and always enjoy seeing your work when it appears randomly on the site.  Please do consider sharing new pieces if you are still active and able.