Artist Statement:

This series of works deals with the tensions between the freedoms of life and the captivity of death. The dead birds and bugs become a metaphor for the liberties of life lost in death; they lack all of their previous potential for lightness, flight, and mobility. What is left is the rapidly fading vibrancy of the core of the creature, pursuing a futile attempt to perpetuate itself into the next moment. The photograph petrifies these creatures in their transitory state to show us how vibrant life can be in death.

All of these images have been generated by the using found objects that are put on a flatbed scanner. The objects are scanned at an incredibly high resolution to achieve a level of detail not normally acquired through traditional digital media. The images are an attempt at a photographic still life that is comparable to a still life drawing or painting. The photos appropriate similar aesthetics in an attempt to blur the line between photography and drawing/painting. The richness of the detail in the images is comparable to the detail of a single hair brush used by a still life painter.

--Reilly Donovan