Salvaged: Some thoughts on a Still Life by Cathyann Burgess

Salvaged©2011C.L.Burgess oil on linen 16x12

Bella Arte Gallery

When I thought of the title it was so very appropriate. To salvage is to rescue.


We artists, and  most especially former art teachers make good use of things disposed, forgotten, unwanted, worn out, the flotsam and jetsam of life. I used to so admire the artist Louise Nevelson for that. She, taking the tossed out and about; breathing new life into the found object.


Maybe too, the symbolism herein could also be read differently, as we all bring something to the pieces as we look at art objects. What could the spent spider flower mean in this context? And the the weathered wood; was it used to support perhaps a porch roof? Or did the painter put those words there? Why are these objects precious enough to  arrange and paint?


What story do these things hold for you?
Art tells stories. It really doesn't matter what that story is sometimes, once the artist gives it birth. The experience has already been had once. It is generously given now for others to ruminate over, write poems for, remember someone or something or somewhere; giving still, new birth to yet more art, perhaps.
Thank you, Louise.