Nostalgic Vanity

This piece was inspired by Audrey Flack’s "Jolie Madame" (1973) and "Chanel, 1974". I was drawn to Flack's modern vanitas, a type of artwork that depicts the transient and ephemeral nature of life through still life arrangements usually involving a skull, maybe an hourglass, and fruits and flowers. I’ve included memories from my mom’s bathroom and items around the house, including a pomelo, some open lipstick tubes, an uncapped Tiger Balm, a pincushion, a jade bracelet, a lychee, a perfume bottle, and face cream container.

This piece of part my Asian American Still Lifes series, where I reimagined well-known still lifes with commonplace objects found around Asian American homes, particularly East Asian households. I explored how representation can extend to the most mundane of objects and evoke different memories and emotions depending on who is viewing the art.