Nature Mortelle, 2025
103 x 60 cm
Pewter, silverware, hand-blown glass, alabaster fruit, oyster shells, brass bullets, sculpted weapons, hand embroidery, Damask napkin, Swedish/Arabic dictionary paper, black pepper, Ceylon tea, and customized velvet cloth by Jonas Jönsson.
A feast laid out for consumption, except there is nothing to eat. The table is set, the composition familiar, echoing the rich tradition of 17th-century Dutch still-life paintings. But instead of drinks, fish, and bread, there are guns, bullets, and grenades. This installation replaces symbols of abundance with instruments of destruction, confronting viewers with the unsettling reality of war. The still-life genre, once a celebration of wealth and luxury, becomes a site of violence and absence. The calm, composed arrangement contrasts sharply with the brutal implications of its contents, forcing a reckoning with how war is perceived, framed, and consumed.
Conflict is often viewed from a distance, either through sanitized media portrayals or as an abstract political issue rather than lived experience. Here, the intimacy of the dining table, a place of family, ritual, and survival, transforms into a reminder of what war destroys: not just lives, but homes, traditions, and the basic act of sharing a meal. For those in exile, the weight of war does not end with escape. It lingers in memory, in the struggle to rebuild, in the objects and symbols that once meant security but now hold different meanings. By replacing nourishment with weaponry, and by positioning the wounded Virgin Mary as a silent witness to the scene, this work speaks to the tension between survival and loss, between longing for home and the realities of Displacement.
Still-life has always been about more than just beauty; it is a meditation on time, impermanence, and mortality. In this installation, it becomes a critique of the ways violence is normalized, overlooked, or aestheticized. It asks: What does it mean to sit at a table where war is the only offering? And who gets to look away?
As an artist deeply immersed in the tradition of still life, I have long been fascinated by its ability to speak to themes of time, mortality, and impermanence. Willem Heda’s 17th-century still lifes have been a significant influence on my work, particularly their meticulous composition and the subtle yet profound reflections on abundance and loss. In my previous paintings, I’ve explored the symbolism of everyday objects, capturing their beauty while acknowledging their fleeting nature.
For this installation, it felt natural to push the still life genre into a new, unsettling territory. The familiar elements of a feast the table, the arrangement are there, but instead of food, I’ve replaced them with weapons: guns, grenades, and bullets. War, displacement, and the destruction of home are themes that have been central to my life and practice, and this work brings those realities into the intimate, familiar space of the dining table. It forces a confrontation with the violence that disrupts life and survival.
This project is partially supported by
From the exhibition Nature Mortelle at NSFW Gallery, 2025. All images by Hendrik Zetiler.