Tara Sellios
Testimony
March 2–April 2, 2017
“Death has always possessed a significant presence within the history of art, ranging from altarpieces to the work of the Dutch still life painters. Manifesting melancholic themes with beauty and precision, as these artists did, results in an image that is seductive, forcing the viewer to look, despite its apparent grotesque and morbid nature. Through these images, I aspire to make apparent the restlessness of a life that is knowingly so temporary and vulnerable.”
Inspired by Last Judgement paintings of the Baroque era, Tara Sellios’ Testimony is a visual rumination upon the fragility, impermanence, and carnality of life. Her process is meticulous and deliberate, with each tableau beginning as a detailed watercolor sketch. Sellios then translates each painting into sculpture, carefully placing rehydrated insect specimens and animal skeletons into intriguing configurations that she subsequently photographs with an 8x10 view camera. The resulting larger-than-life color photographic prints, which are on view alongside selected watercolors, are meant to disrupt preconceived notions of death while also offering a space for contemplating our mortality.
Tara Sellios (b. 1987) is an artist living and working in Boston, Massachusetts. She holds a BFA in Photography from The Art Institute of Boston and has exhibited extensively regionally and nationally. Her work has been featured in Photograph magazine, the Boston Globe, and on the Lenscratch photography blog. Blue Sky is honored to host Sellios’ first solo show on the West Coast.