The Fruits of My Labor, September 2024, Plaster, Plastic Beads, Acrylic Paint, 12” x 12” x 12”
This still life featuring fruits that symbolize fertility reflects my recent journey into motherhood and the profound changes it has brought—mentally, physically, and emotionally. Food has always been a significant part of my identity, in both my professional work as an Art Director for commercial food photography and in my personal life where themes of health & wellness, nutrition, and sustainability are ever present in my goal to nourish my body and my provide for my family.
Through my work in commercial food photography, I learned a lot about living a healthy lifestyle and eating well and it always ties back to fruits and veggies, nature is our greatest healer. My son loves all kinds of fruits, they are his all-time favorite thing to eat, and bearing witness to the true bliss of a young child enjoying the sweet deliciousness of fruit for the first time brings me pure, unfiltered joy. Those moments are the best reminders, that the little moments in life can be the most special if you are mindful enough to see them in that light.
As I experimented with plaster, I noticed a powerful parallel between the material and the human body—strong, solid, yet also, fragile, and breakable. I’ve incorporated beads from my collection of found objects, including a bracelet given to me in childhood, to symbolize the seeds of a pomegranate, alongside black pearls representing papaya seeds. Working with found and sentimental objects is a central theme in my art; it gives new life to items that might otherwise be discarded, helping ease my concerns about consumerism and its environmental impact.
