Photo Credit: David Dietrich

Artist

Olivia Parker (Primary)

Title

Still Life with Birds and Peaches

Date

1981

Century

20th century

Medium & Support

Polaroid print on paper

Edition

1/8

Dimensions

image: 26 1/2 x 20 1/2 in. , sheet: 31 x 21 7/8 in.

Style

Still Life

Object Type

Photographs

Credit Line

Gift in memory of Lenny Bernstein

Accession Number

2017.25.10

Copyright

In Copyright
© Olivia Parker

Embracing the still life tradition of 17th-century Dutch, Flemish, and Spanish painters in her photography, Parker uses ephemeral constructions and experiments with light and its endless possibilities to shape reality. This image illustrates a dialogue between the birds and the peaches. Vibrant and sharply focused peaches under soft light, placed against a dark background, look tempting yet unreachable. They are separated from the birds by the visual divides carefully constructed in the composition. The playful manipulations of light, refraction, and texture from the glass objects create a dynamic abstract space and add an unexpected, dreamlike quality to this poetic image. Parker juxtaposes the animate and inanimate through the use of everyday objects to remind us of the synchronicity of life and death.

Exhibition Title: Asheville Art Museum: An Introduction to the Collection
Label Date: 2021
Type: Object Entry
Written by: Lei Han

• still lifes