Tina Yip
Hornsby Girls High School
TROMPE L’OEIL
Painting
Oil on canvas, stop motion video
It is in the natural order of things to grow and deteriorate. Everything is impermanent, even the eventual decay that we all face as humans. Trompe l'oeil represents the cyclical nature of life and death by drawing parallels between decayed still life and human deterioration. My intent is to challenge the basis of traditional vanitas art by subverting the notion of decay as a symbol of growth and new chapters. Using the transformative power of time as the foundation of my body of work, I express the transience of earthly elements and the impermanence of death in an ever-changing world.
My artmaking practice has been influenced by the study and interpretation of the following artists: Rachel Bess, Harmen Steenwyck, Em Cooper.
Marker's Commentary
There is considerable skill manifest in this extravagant still life series lavishly painted using oil paints with delicate glazing. Using predominantly warm and dark hues and chiaroscuro, the paintings demonstrate the discipline of the Dutch masters and the vanitas tradition. Each still life, featuring fish, peaches, grapes and carafes, have been painted with absolute finesse in the realist tradition. This expertise is most clearly evident in the prune-like surface of the shrivelled grapes and reflective surfaces, while shadows have been expertly cast. Tina Yip’s intention extends beyond representations of memento mori and the inevitability of decay as she presents the notion that even death is impermanent and from it life will emerge.
