Art@840Madison Vol. 3: Still Lifes by Elen Fisch

Ellen Fisch was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Throughout her youth Fisch evolved as a photographer and an artist, using photography, drawing, and painting to communicate her artistic impressions. Fisch’s atmospheric and visionary images of architecture, landscapes, and still-lifes reveal the mystery of their forms as well as their vital inner spirit.

The still-lifes series presented here exemplifies Fisch’s intimate approach to her surroundings. In 2020, forced to stay home due to the pandemic, Fisch engaged in a cleanout in her house, discovering small objects accumulated over many years, such as bowls, jars, and silver trays. Interested in their shapes and textures, she contemplated how she could use them to express herself. In her studio near the window, she saw how soft northern light enhanced each object, and she began to pursue the art of still life. For Fisch, the genre of still life, initiated centuries ago by artists who were perhaps under similar circumstances of confinement, is a powerful statement with a reference to the essential aspects of human life.   

In the series, she arranges seasonal flowers and fruits along with objects, exploring the subtle harmony between the mortal and the immortal. Each work embraces a distinctive personality in the combination of shapes, lines, compositions, and shades depending on the light at the time of day. Fisch took more than 400 frames of each arrangement and carefully selected the final image — a labor of love.

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