Ana Milenkovic
19 1/8 x 22 in.
A glass ashtray, a wooden domino box and a fish lie lifeless on a patterned green tablecloth. The background’s pattern suggests dynamicity, in opposition to the immobility of the objects in the foreground. Painted with extreme clarity and in muted and cold hues, the still life evokes a sense of sterilised stillness, accentuating the absence of life. The stark colour contrasts and meticulous details of the work reveal the tactile texture of the objects’ surface, a motif present throughout Milenkovic’s oeuvre. Milenkovic’s gaze exposes objects “for what they are”; stripped of their status and of their symbolic meaning the objects unveil their sheer materiality. This work, painted with oil on canvas, confers solemnity to mundane objects, which are elevated to transcend to the realm of the extraordinary. Meanwhile, the imbalanced geometry of the composition betrays a sense of mystery and unease.