Photographer Abelardo Morell is a relentlessly curious artist, often striving to capture complex images (and ideas) in single frames that seem to vibrate with intensity. His photographs can feel uncanny and surreal, making the viewer slow down to look more carefully, deconstructing exactly what the artist is putting in front of our eyes. And his images have staying power, lingering long in the memory and imagination of viewers, their ideas working like essential seeds long after first exposure.
In his latest series, Flowers for Lisa, Morell takes a traditional still life subject — a vase of flowers — and pushes and pulls it well beyond the typical boundaries of that genre. What started with a single, romantic photograph for his wife, Lisa, became a muse-like obsession for him over the course of a few years. The result is a tour de force show of seemingly endless creativity, all while working within a self-imposed set of restrictions.
