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Vessel
Olivia Parker (American, born in 1941)
1993
Medium/Technique
Photograph, gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Sheet: 50.5 x 43.2 cm (19 7/8 x 17 in.)
Frame: 63.5 x 54 cm (25 x 21 1/4 in.)
Frame: 63.5 x 54 cm (25 x 21 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. George R. Rowland, Sr.
Accession Number1993.714
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsContemporary Art, Americas, Photography
ClassificationsPhotographs
Olivia Parker's photographs question the supposed objectivity of the medium. She organizes juxtapositions of the real that lead us into fantasy worlds. Vessel is the simplest of constructions: a beautiful bottle filled with water and photographed in strong, natural light. The large scale of the print reveals a world within the bottle, both real and illusory. Tiny air bubbles punctuate the watery atmosphere, and shadows cast by the decorative bottleneck swirl about like lissome fish. But equally present is the reflection of a vaulted room whose windows look out onto surrounding trees. The bottle itself has no context. Floating against a black background, it is removed from reality, and its contents become an otherworldly message within a crystal ball.
InscriptionsEdition: 3/30.
ProvenanceMrs. George R. Rowland, Sr., Boston, MA; gift November 1993.
CopyrightOlivia Parker © 1993