Photographic project «Abundance»

I create still lifes from discarded materials, referencing the tradition of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish still lifes — a genre that depicted everyday life and wealth, and over time acquired a philosophical and moralizing dimension. Reinterpreting this tradition, I explore the everyday life of contemporary society.

The works feature products, flowers, and their packaging, collected by me from items discarded by stores. Some have completely or partially lost their commercial qualities, while others remain intact. Thus, signs of decay and loss of value become noticeable gradually, during the process of viewing.

Aesthetic form in these still lifes coexists with devaluation, and visual pleasure with the awareness that the viewer is observing waste. These works capture a moment of symbolic death: the objects have lost their status as commodities and have been removed from the consumption system without fulfilling their function. Contemporary abundance is closely linked to overproduction and overconsumption, with ecological consequences.

Within the project, waste appears as an artifact of everyday life — a trace and witness of these processes.

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