ARTIST STATEMENT FOR VANITAS PHOTOGRAPHY

Beyond the Here and Now

By: Nicole Kubick

Death is unavoidable, whether we choose to acknowledge this fact of life or not.  In my series, Beyond the Here and Now, I wanted to present my own interpretation of vanitas still life to the viewer through objects that belong to my immediate family and me.  The vanitas paintings and modern vanitas photographs contain certain items such as rotting fruit, wilting flowers, skulls, hourglasses, candles, and other objects that reference Biblical symbolism, and each item has a specific meaning.  The purpose of these items is to reference that life here on earth is short, beauty fades, and because this life is fleeting, one should not focus on temporary things like materialism.  Vanitas artists want the viewer to arrive at the conclusion that our focus should be on eternity, and what we do on this earth matters.  We can live our lives with our focus primarily on eternity and helping people, or our focus can be on accumulating wealth and living a life of self-centeredness. Each photograph in Beyond the Here and Now contains a specific message, and each object plays a role in contributing to that overall message.