tara sellios

I strive to create images that elegantly articulate the totality of existence, focusing heavily on life’s underlying instinctive, carnal nature in the face of fragility and impermanence. The concept of morality in relation to mortality has possessed a significant presence within the history of art, ranging from altarpieces to the work of the Dutch vanitas painters. Manifesting melancholic, seemingly harsh themes with beauty and precision, as these artists did, results in an image that is seductive, forcing the viewer to look, despite its apparent grotesque and morbid nature. This dichotomy acts as a reminder to the viewer that despite times of overwhelming ugliness, there is beauty to be found, as they coexist together, although often subtly. I aspire to make apparent the restlessness of a life that is knowingly so temporary and vulnerable through creating dramatic scenes wrought with sensuality, lightness and darkness, and religious symbolism.

I have always thought of my work as theater or as a book, with each series being an act or a chapter. In my prior work, the content was fleshy and lush, using wine and blood as frequent allegorical symbols inspired by Bacchanalia and Christian iconography. I now journey into a new narrative world where the feast has dried up and pleasure has subsided, transformed, and ultimately, transcended. The feast is over, the wine has dried up and the flesh has withered away to the bone, but the chapter transforms into a new narrative world where the earth begins to take over in a seemingly apocalyptic way. I wanted more freedom and a feeling of weightlessness in my images, for the still life to become more animated. The insects, skeletons, and other organic materials begin to take over. I often think about conveying that fear that one can feel in the woods by yourself as darkness starts to set in, that sort of shadowy feeling of being in a powerful, wild place teaming with creatures and a force way beyond oneself.

My work is extremely process oriented, with many layers and steps that all play off of each other. The initial stage is research based, which involves reading and looking at whatever art historical figures are speaking to me at the moment, music, movies, and just living. All of it feeds the work, which I think is true for a lot of artists - whatever is part of our “diet” shows up in some way, whether subtle or not. My state of mind when I am beginning a new piece or entering an intense period of creation is an overbearing feeling that something needs to get out. I can become pretty obsessed, and it overtakes me. It is almost as if my work has a life of its own. It tells me when it’s done. Once ideas start coming through, I jot down concepts, words and images that come to mind, some of which are often very vague. They can be colors, feelings or actions that I want the imagery to manifest. As more solid concepts begin to arise, I make a shot list of sorts. I then make preliminary watercolor sketches to establish the concept visually and do most of my problem solving there. From the sketch, I can figure out colors and materials needed to build the photographic arrangement, which is a sculptural endeavor.

The insects and skeletons used are real and acquired from across the globe from various collectors of specimens online. Arriving brittle and fragile, the insects must go through a process of rehydration to mount them into the new shape, giving them a sense of movement. Using an 8x10 view camera and natural light, the scene is then photographed with color film and then scanned. The only photoshop work that I do is typical adjustments and removing the wire, glue and other base structures that hold everything together. The large format allows for immense detail and the potential for mural size prints, which come from high resolution digital scans of the negative.

Monumental photographs are larger than life, referential to painting and really capture the immense detail in each image. - Tara