Fiona Pardington: Still Life with Nasturtiums in a Crystal Vase and an Unknown Organic Object (2013)

A descendent of three Maori tribes, Fiona Pardington was born in Devonport, New Zealand. She attended Orewa College and the Elam School of Fine Arts where she ultimately earned a DocFA. She specializes in ‘pure’ photographic darkroom techniques including hand printing and toning. In the late 1980s she began challenging the social documentary photography eventually embracing the still-life format to raise awareness of the importance of conservation. She has had solo shows throughout New Zealand. Her work is included in public and private collections worldwide.

In an interview for the Auckland Art Gallery in conjunction with her exhibit, A Beautiful Hesitation, Pardington provided insight into her approach: “I think it is best to understand my still-life photographs as small alters or Tu Ahu. A tabletop is a place for concentration, and you could call it ritual, but it’s also just the thing we do when we are focusing or decorating or creating a little space for ourselves…certainly, for me, these are all activated spaces and there’s a certain ritual associated with the collection (process)”.

Still Life with Nasturtiums in a Crystal Vase and an Unknown Organic Object with its bright orange-red blossoms is an uncharacteristically vibrant example of Pardington’s still- life work and the reason for its inclusion here in A Splash of Local Color. Although it is common for Pardington to visually draw the viewer’s attention the object of her focus, for this photograph it is the title that first demands consideration. What is the ‘unknown organic object’? And, rather than her usual somber tones and muted lighting, this piece is lit to emphasize flowers cascading down the right side, forcing the viewer to make a conscious search for the more subtly toned mystery object.

(This piece is proposed for inclusion in A Splash of Local Color: Vibrant Hues at Work in Contemporary Indigenous Art.)

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