Ask Now the Beasts
Tara Sellios
January 18th, 2025- January 18th, 2026
Fitchburg Art Museum
185 Elm Street, Fitchburg, MA. 01420
978-345-4207
Hours:
Wednesday-Friday 12-4pm
Saturday and Sunday 11am-5pm
First Thursday of each month 12-7pm
info@fitchburgartmuseum.org
https://www.tarasellios.com
Instagram: @tarasellios
Tara Sellios creates large-scale photographs of sculptural still life assemblages she sets up in her studio. She starts with pencil sketches, develops them into watercolors, and then creates still life sculptures based on her drawings.
Her subject matter is based on historical, literary, and biblical references, creating a view of the very end of the apocalypse. She finds beauty in entropy and references the Book of Job and Revelations from the Bible in this work. Influenced by Hieronymus Bosch and Albrecht Durer, her own imagery is sometimes bizarre and mystical. She starts with stream-of-consciousness pencil drawings and searches for three-dimensional objects, such as skulls, dead insects, fish, and animal bones to create still groupings from her ideas to match the preparatory sketches.
She uses an 8 x 10 view camera to capture the images of the still life assemblages and prints them on a large scale. The size of the photographs shows intricate details of each object in the assemblage.
Her concept, although dark and dire, is also hopeful. She sees the light after entropy. In her two related pieces, Umbra and Dilucesco, she uses the image of the cross to depict shadow and darkness in Umbra, followed by dawn of light in Dilucesco.
The exhibit is thought-provoking and beautifully presented in the darkened room. The skeletal remains, the dusty wings, and the suspension of images that appear as if floating in dark space are effective in creating an atmosphere of otherworldliness. This must-see exhibit will interest lovers of photography, religious imagery, mythology, mysticism, anthropology, entomology, lepidopterology, zooarchaeology, and Latin language studies.
Written by Pamela Dorris DeJong, a member of New England Wax
Intriguing process. I love the sense of unpreciousness
With the notes on the sides. Yet the artist has an in-depth well defined system to arrive at the final image.
Process and product
The exhibition sounds fascinating!! Thanks for posting.
So many disciplines crossing over to create these complicated images. I hope to get up there and see the show! Thank you for bringing this to our attention!