Flower Painting Reproduction Under a Large Glass Dome

“In 2014 I began a project entitled Flowers for Lisa in which I made photographs of flowers that were dedicated to my wife, Lisa. While the nominal subject of the images was flowers, my approach took all kinds of visual paths and experimentation. Many of my flower pictures came from the inspiration and influence provided by other artists.

For this photograph, which draws from the Flowers for Lisa series, I used a book page with a reproduction of a gorgeous painting, Bouquet in a Clay Vase, 1607, by Jan Brueghel the Elder. In enclosing an illustrated page of flowers under a glass dome instead of using real flowers, the picture feels weirdly balanced between artifice and vivid reality. Without planning for it, my reflection in the studio appears and adds yet another reference to the many optical effects found in older Dutch Painting.”