In these new pieces, the weighty or uncomfortable balancing of fruit is used as a visual metaphor for the fragility of any kind of lasting stability.
By balancing everyday objects, I emphasize the universality of these routine ideas. Using fruit, traditionally a symbol of decay and ephemerality, I reference the familiar cycles of stability and collapse. In the images, figures balancing oversized, unwieldy or fragile-looking fruits on various parts of the body. For instance, by holding a particular pose, in one image, a huge mandarin rests on the model’s shoulder. In a second image, a gigantic yellow melon is elevated with tension between two flexed arms. As primarily black and white photographs, only the colour of the fruit disrupts the monotone. The emphasis of these images highlights unnerving balancing on view.
During 2013, unexpected and significant changes in my life gave rise to an eight-year creative hiatus as I re-found my feet. Whilst not directly referencing the personal adjustment process, the work here focuses on the delicacy around any kind of lasting stability where certainty can fall away suddenly. Even seemingly robust interpersonal relationships can shift from a state of order to one of chaos over time. As mirrored in the uncertainty of current worldwide politics, disorder can appear rapidly and without warning.
By balancing everyday objects, I emphasize the universality of these routine ideas. Using fruit, traditionally a symbol of decay and ephemerality, I reference the familiar cycles of stability and collapse. In the images, figures balancing oversized, unwieldy or fragile-looking fruits on various parts of the body. For instance, by holding a particular pose, in one image, a huge mandarin rests on the model’s shoulder. In a second image, a gigantic yellow melon is elevated with tension between two flexed arms. As primarily black and white photographs, only the colour of the fruit disrupts the monotone. The emphasis of these images highlights unnerving balancing on view.
During 2013, unexpected and significant changes in my life gave rise to an eight-year creative hiatus as I re-found my feet. Whilst not directly referencing the personal adjustment process, the work here focuses on the delicacy around any kind of lasting stability where certainty can fall away suddenly. Even seemingly robust interpersonal relationships can shift from a state of order to one of chaos over time. As mirrored in the uncertainty of current worldwide politics, disorder can appear rapidly and without warning.
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Melon (2024) 59.4 x 62 cm Mandarin (2024) 59.4 x 62 cm
Mandarins Balancing (2025) 29.7 x 42 cm
All images copyright © 2025 Georgina McNamara.
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved.