Installation View, 2016
Albino is a photographic project that investigates the visual and conceptual power of still life paintings. After studying many classic European still life compositions, I sought to understand whether their impact stemmed from color or composition. I wondered: if I removed the 'nature' from the still life, would its strength remain?
This question led me to create a domestic lab where I submerged various fruits and vegetables in jars of bleach—a familiar household substance associated with whitening. I didn’t want to digitally desaturate the objects but rather physically strip their color beforehand to explore the raw power of composition alone. I built an aquarium resting on a scanner and documented the stages of bleaching over time.
Many of the works in the series are scans that document the bleaching process, reminiscent of X-ray photography. Aside from two "color still life" pieces and one image that captures the lab itself, the main installation is a light-table made from a dining table, displaying all the scanned produce.
The entire project operates within an uncanny tension between spaces and categories: between jars that recall historical natural history collections and warm home kitchens; between specimens preserved in liquid and pickled vegetables; between photography and radiography; between domesticity and clinical detachment; between flora, fauna, and the stillness of inanimate nature.
Albino also grapples with notions of time and space, with questions of cleanliness, sterilization, preservation, and decay.
Untitled (1-8), Inkjet Print, 43×60 cm, 2016
Still Life (1,2), Inkjet Print, 42×53 cm, 2016
Still Life (3), Inkjet Print, 90×55 cm, 2016
Still Life (4) (Lightbox Display), 116×65 cm, 2016