STILL LIFE WITH UBE, 2021
1. Ube Area
is a bakery in San Francisco, CA that specializes in infusing classic Americana desserts with Southeast Asian, Filipino flavors like ube and calamansi lime. For more about Ube Area, see https://www.ubeareabakery.com/.Pictured below: all of the treats that Ube Area shared with us for creating the still life.
2. Crowning flowers
The flowers in the still lifes are sometimes chosen and placed as nod-backs to certain themes in the Dutch still life tradition. For example, a common aesthetic practice in the 18th century was to place a hefty flower at the very top of the arrangement, like the crown imperial in Still Life with Ube and in Jan van Huysum’s Vase of Flowers (1722).
3. Behind the scenes
Paper cutout stand ins for the Ube Area treats while the floral arrangement is built.
4. Behind the scenes
Still Life with Ube was made in San Francisco, and because it was away from my regular studio space, we shot in my friend Micah’s garage in the city, using a small window and building the floral arrangements on top of (a very precariously balanced table we built on top of) his washing machine. Here I am, shooting from the slope under the low ceiling of the garage. (photo by Micah Weiss)