Inside Outside

“All photographs are memento mori. To take a photograph is to participate in another person’s (or thing’s) mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time’s relentless melt.” ~Susan Sontag

By Elin Spring

In times of turmoil, we search for meaning. When in despair, our spirit seeks restoration in beauty. To encounter both meaning and beauty in any form of art is a generous gift, especially in challenging times like these. Photographer Vaughn Sills presents such a rare offering in her solo exhibit Inside Outside on view at Kingston Gallery in Boston’s South End arts district through February 28^th, 2021.

“Purple Parrot Tulips, Northumberland Strait” from the series Inside Outside by Vaughn Sills, courtesy of the artist and Kingston Gallery, Boston.

Life is unpredictable. It has always been, but the unrelenting and often cruel events of the past year have barraged us with constant reminders. And while being confined indoors clearly limits choices for photographic subjects, perhaps the compounded stress of immediate danger from a pandemic, persistent threat of racial and political violence, and fears over the effects of climate change may help explain why the genre of still-life has seen such a robust resurgence. Also called memento mori (literally “remember that you will die”), still-life accentuates the ephemeral nature of existence, intensifying appreciation for its exquisite beauty and tribulations. Sills’ images place the fleeting glory of cultivated flowers in communion with the untamed, seeming eternity of the natural world. Her floral pairings with tranquil and misty rivers, wild fields and tempestuous seas unite nature, grief and fragility with serene grace.

“Hydrangea, Carragher’s Pond” from the series Inside Outside by Vaughn Sills, courtesy of the artist and Kingston Gallery, Boston.

“Autumnalis Cherry, Northumberland Strait” from the series Inside Outside by Vaughn Sills, courtesy of the artist and Kingston Gallery, Boston.

The deceptively simple act of placing a clear vase of fresh-cut flowers against the backdrop of a stunning landscape is the alluring invitation to Sills’ metaphorical photographs. A naturally lit, indoor still-life of a striking and intimate floral arrangement is set before an expansive and dramatic sea or landscape. These background photographs are from True Poems Flee, Sills’ Prince Edward Island series that served as a healing elegy to her late mother and was the subject of a solo exhibit at the Simmons University Trustman Art Gallery in 2018 (link to our review, below). In an illuminating window into the artist’s process, a selection of photographs from this series is on display at the gallery. About half of them serve as the background photographs for Inside Outside.

“Anemone, Carragher’s Pond” from the series Inside Outside by Vaughn Sills, courtesy of the artist and Kingston Gallery, Boston.

Sills’ floral arrangements are shot close-up while the landscapes behind them are distant, sweeping panoramas. The effect pulls the viewer into the scene and establishes what may seem an unlikely communication between two disparate visual elements. While the glass vases sparkle with ambient studio light, their water level aligns with the background horizon line, fortifying a subtle interaction of hues between the flowers and the backgrounds upon which they reflect color or cast the occasional shadow. Sills’ interplay of colors, multiple sources of light, and contrasting near and far perspectives create a surreal visual splendor that is mesmerizing.

“Ranunculus, Northumberland Strait II” from the series Inside Outside by Vaughn Sills, courtesy of the artist and Kingston Gallery, Boston.

In another era, gardens often served as an artistic outlet for women whose domestic duties and expectations afforded them few other choices. Cultivated flora can symbolize a form of confinement and contrast with the often tumultuous, unassailable sovereignty of the scenes beyond. In addition, the sculptural quality of each floral arrangement suggests individual character, often harmonizing with the photograph behind it: a gaggle of Queen Anne’s Lace stake their claim among the crops in a farmer’s field while desiccated fronds of Hydrangea whisper in the morning fog over Carragher’s Pond.

“Queen Anne’s Lace, Bedeque” from the series Inside Outside by Vaughn Sills, courtesy of the artist and Kingston Gallery, Boston.

Other times, the flowers distinctly contrast with the scene behind them: dramatically draped Purple Parrot Tulips against the stormy skies of Northumberland Strait express a writhing, desperate cry, while the fresh bloom of Cherry blossoms against the same turbulent sea seems to convey the buoyant, infectious hope of youth. A defiantly vibrant Lady’s Slipper pits its sunny optimism against similarly unsettled weather. With elegant lyricism, Inside Outside elucidates the fleeting and the eternal marvel of life.

“Lady’s Slipper, Northumberland Strait” from the series Inside Outside by Vaughn Sills, courtesy of the artist and Kingston Gallery, Boston.

For more information about this exhibit, gallery hours, and a virtual Artist Talk with Vaughn Sills and Chantal Zakari on Wednesday, February 10th, 2021 at 7:00pm, go to: http://www.kingstongallery.com/exhibitions/2021/january-vaughn-sills-inside-outside.php

On Saturday, February 20, 2021 at 4:00pm, Griffin Museum of Photography will be hosting a panel discussion, “Inside Outside: Art, Grief and Our Relationship to the Natural World – Three Perspectives.” For more information and/or registration, go to: https://griffinmuseum.org/event/panel-discussion-inside-outside-art-grief-and-our-relationship-with-the-natural-world-three-perspectives/

To read our review of Vaughn Sills’ solo exhibition True Poems Flee, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/vaughn-sills-true-poems-flee-at-trustman-gallery-simmons-university-boston/

FEATURED IMAGE: “Ranunculus, Wright’s Pond” 2020, from the series Inside Outside by Vaughn Sills, courtesy of the artist and Kingston Gallery, Boston.