* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
In her current work Beth Lipman presents an interpretation of the ‘still life.’ Each piece is a formal, three-dimensional recreation of a painting (or a detail) from centuries past. The subject matter, now seemingly benign, was in its day laden with Christian symbolism and still life paintings could be seen as veritable battlefields of good versus evil in one complete microcosm.
Still life paintings are a combination of technical achievement, symbolism, and sensuality, reflecting the artist’s skill. Each object was obsessively rendered, the perspective of the composition carefully chosen. In re-contextualizing their symbolism for the America of the 21st century, Lipman renders the paintings material in glass or clay, preserving the original composition in the new object.
