“My work is an urgent call to live. A primal roar telling me not to waste a second, to be here now.” Cig Harvey (b. 1973) devotes her career to finding joy and meaning in unassuming sensory experiences. The artist is heavily inspired by magical realism, a genre of fiction which presents an authentic view of the world whilst introducing fantastical elements. It is this combination of the expected and the surreal that runs through the photographs and narrative in the artist’s newest publication, Emerald Drifters.
The series builds upon Blue Violet (2021), a meditation on how to appreciate the mundane parts of life. The book began as a personal project, after a close friend was diagnosed with cancer and requested snapshots whilst in hospital. In an interview with Popular Photography, Harvey said: “I wasn’t going to send her something that wouldn’t bring her joy. So it became this habit of sending pictures every day, and then it grew into … this idea of celebrating the senses.” Flowers are everywhere in the pictures, and this motif perfectly captures the ephemeral nature of life.
The documentation of fleeting moments is continued in Emerald Drifters. The images are quintessentially Harvey. Chunks of highly decorated birthday cakes, covered in pastel frosting and sprinkles, are camouflaged in mounds of cut flowers. A rain- bow of crushed fruit bleeds onto a white tablecloth. An apple tree bows under the weight of its own produce. One small figure bounds through blindingly white snow. This poetic and intimate volume catalogues transient pleasures and heartbreaks. Here, audiences are reminded of what it means to embrace being alive.
Emerald Drifters | Monacelli
Image credit: Hole by Cig Harvey from her new book Emerald Drifters published by Monacelli.
The post Living in Technicolour appeared first on Aesthetica Magazine.
