Sekai Machache

In this photograph Sekai Machache reconstructs a traditional still life using many of its characteristic elements: tableware, flowers, food and candles. She disrupts convention, however, by inserting herself into the composition, blending the genres of still life and portraiture. The work comments on the history of the still life as a way for art patrons to show off their wealth through their lavish objects.

It also references the lockdowns during the recent pandemic, when many people were contained within their homes, surrounded by their belongings with little else to do than accumulate more. The cobalt blue tableware represents Blue Willow porcelain which originated in seventh-century China during the Tang dynasty and nowadays is appropriated and sold as inexpensive commodities in the West.