In a new collaboration between photographer Richard Learoyd and ceramicist Frances Palmer, the artists draw upon the language of nature morte, or still life, to explore how objects and images speak across art historical periods and the shifting materials of their respective mediums. The collaboration began with the outlines of sketched vessels, drawn by Learoyd. These diagrams, sent to Palmer, then became prompts for translation between photography and pottery.
In her Connecticut studio, Palmer reinterpreted Learoyd’s drawn silhouettes through her own material acumen, shaping vessels that distilled Learoyd’s imagined forms into objects fit for photographic activation.
Palmer created two versions of each, one with a matte white glaze, the other a translucent bisque porcelain. Once fired, the vessels returned to Learoyd’s London studio, where he arranged a vase with tulips, poppies, and other flowers, paying close attention to the volume and composition of each bouquet.
Behind-the-scenes shots from Learoyd’s studio reveal the unique style of floral arrangement, in which the petals are placed facing the artist’s camera-obscura lens, and the stems protrude from the back of Palmer’s perforated ceramic vase.
The photograph is composed using a room-sized camera obscura, in which the subject is exposed directly onto positive photographic paper, resulting in a uniquely detailed print with no intermediate negative.
Also on view are pieces Palmer produced for the exhibition. Pictured here in her studio, the works evoke an array of personality and influence. Their fluted edges, whimsical handles, and sinuous necks echo Cycladic pottery and ancient amphorae alike.
Learoyd’s flowers recall those in 17th- and 18th-century European still lifes, not just in their abundant form, but in their implicit drama: the blooms just past their peak, the suggestion of time slipping. These are not pristine bouquets, but rather portraits of impermanence.
Learoyd and Palmer’s collaboration reflects a shared interest in process, form, and tradition. By bringing together drawing, clay, and photography, they create works that reconsider art historical precedents and traditional materials through a contemporary lens.
