More still life

During a critique a few weeks ago when I took my broken plates and vases in to be critiqued, one of my class mates said that they possibly weren't as strong as they could be because they weren't sitting within a specific context. They were just plates on a white background. 

That comment helped a lot because I knew that they weren't quite working but couldn't figure out what exactly it was that wasn't working (being a stubborn artist, they were photographed and turned out exactly how I originally wanted them to look and I couldn't see past that).

So, today I revisited that Fragile robustness idea. 

Abbey Proctor, 2011, Fragile robustness IV [digital photograph]

Abbey Proctor, 2011, Fragile robustness V [digital photograph]

I was a little reluctant at first as I wanted them to be purely a metaphor for the soul or self, but I finally decided that embracing the plates' original form (that being.. a plate) might be the best way to go about photographing them for a second time. So I sat them in this gorgeous wee plate / photo frame holder that sits on our coffee table in the lounge.

I haven't figured out why exactly these work a lot better than my first attempt, but I really think they do. I suppose that the 'holder' is, in a way holding the selves together so they don't fall apart? I still have some thinking to do in that area..

The reason behind the unbroken plate (or self) being added to the series plays with an idea I came up with while I was in Auckland a few weeks ago. The "whole" plate is a representation of a young, innocent self that has not yet been damaged enough by life to have broken, this is juxtaposed by the damaged plate, representing an older self that has been worn down by the harshness of life and is, in some parts, barely holding itself together.

I really love the way the two look when they are placed side by side.

But I'm not sure that the idea as a whole is strong enough to be taken further this year. At this stage these are just another series to add to my final body of work..