Still Life with Nine Koi Fish

This piece was inspired by Roy Lichtenstein’s “Still Life with Goldfish”, and depicts koi fish, a Korean melon, starfruit, a shuttlecock, and bamboo.

Lichtenstein experimented with different styles in his later works, including still lifes. He used optical tricks to have viewers debate reality as his works were “not meant to have the usual still life meaning”. He added fruits as a parodic homage to traditional still lifes and their fruit baskets. His “Still Life with Goldfish” took on additional layers by incorporating his Golf Ball piece in the background, as well challenging the notions of originality by appropriating Matisse’s Goldfish from 60 years earlier.

This piece of part my Asian American Still Lifes series, where I reimagined well-known still lifes with commonplace objects found around Asian American homes, particularly East Asian households. I explored how representation can extend to the most mundane of objects and evoke different memories and emotions depending on the person viewing the work.