Recently I have become fascinated with the paintings of 17th century Flemish still life painter Clara Peeters. Known as one of the originators of the ‘breakfast piece’ genre of still life painting, as well as the practice of including self portraits in the reflective surfaces of objects, I have become more than a little obsessed with understanding the Dutch Golden Age fascination with depictions of food and how that might connect with health and diet culture, wealth disparity, economics, the role of women, and depictions of the self. These two drawings are a way for me to find a new perspective on a familiar looking subject.
14” x 10.5” paper, Ink on Paper
CAN$ 395 each
In Kitchen Feminism the team at the Kitchen Feminism project asked me to bring my sketchbook along so that they could film me drawing. Rather than work on something random I decided that I would like to work on something that really interested me and that potentially has connections thematically to the Kitchen Feminism project (read more about my Kitchen Feminism experience in this blog post). So I started this drawing under those highly stressful conditions, to complete later in my studio.
The second drawing, After Clara Peeters, was done specifically referencing one of her paintings, as opposed to my recollections of her work. I was able here to be much more analytical in the transfer from one perspective to another, which lead me to some interesting insights about her compositions which I think I will share in future works along this avenue. Watch for more to follow from this exploration in the months to come.