Photographic project «Abundance»

I create still lifes from waste, drawing on the tradition of Dutch and Flemish still-life painting of the 17th century — a genre that depicted everyday life and abundance and, over time, acquired a philosophical and moralizing dimension. By reinterpreting this tradition, I explore the phenomenon of contemporary abundance.

My research began with looking at fallen apples in an autumn garden. I looked into an old bathtub standing beneath a sprawling apple tree. It was filled with apples at different stages of decay. The scene was painterly: a variety of textures, surfaces, and forms. I captured this still life in a photograph — simultaneously attractive and decaying. After this, I wanted to explore the aesthetics of decay.

My search led me to the dumpsters behind stores, filled with an abundance of “fading fruits” of consumer culture, and to the problems of contemporary consumer society. I began collecting food, flowers, and their packaging that had recently been discarded by stores. Some had completely or partially lost their value as commodities, while others had not lost it at all.

From this waste, I created still lifes in which aesthetic form coexists with devaluation, and visual pleasure with the awareness that what the viewer sees is waste. My works capture a moment of symbolic death: the product has lost its status as a commodity and has been excluded from the system of consumption.

At the same time, I discovered that a new status — waste — does not necessarily mean that something is unfit to eat. I therefore ate some of tese finds that were still fit for consumption, practicing freeganism. At times, my entire daily diet consisted of such salvaged products — delicious, nutritious food.

Contemporary abundance is closely linked to overproduction and overconsumption, with their environmental consequences. In my project, waste emerges as an artifact of everyday life — a trace and a witness to these processes.

“Abundance” is an ongoing photographic project that explores contemporary consumer society through the genre of still life.