Heather Allison
Available Works
We live in an era that allows us a separation from the natural world and its cycles. It is this distance that also permits us to ignore the fleeting nature of our time here and although death is the one thing no one can escape, we turn away from it until it touches us personally. Through photographic still life, I explore concepts of impermanence, rebirth, and our corporal existence. The subject of each body of work determines the objects in the compositions, tapping into iconography and color symbolism to call attention to what makes us human.
Pulling from the vanitas style of the seventeenth century Dutch masters, my work combines contemporary mediums with Renaissance styling to speak to modern viewers of mortality, connection, and encourage inner contemplation. One of kind prints of my tableaux are housed in Victorian bubble glass frames, further complimenting the theme of the work. The scientific interests and exploration of the terrestrial world during the Victorian Era are mirrored in my pieces; I find we easily forget that we are actually part of nature in the current day. The frames paired with the subjects of my imagery act as reminders of such. Using taxidermy, flowers, bones, remnants of natural specimens, and oddities, my work dances the line between the macabre and the sublime: works are often untitled to allow the viewer their own introspection and personal understanding of the images.