Sandra Mueller-Dick creates intimately sized canvases of fruits and vegetables, capturing the subtle mystery of the organic shapes with a blend of imagination and precision. The artist depicts the dramatic play of light and shadow in her quiet works. She renders the shapes and colors of the natural world against a flat, black background, blurring the lines between still life and portraiture. Mueller-Dick imbues her inanimate subjects with character, lending humble fruits and vegetables a sense of wonder. 

 

Utilizing rich, autumnal colors, Mueller-Dick paints an anise bulb, a slice of orange, and a ripe tomato, capturing the idiosyncrasies of color and form with attention. A burnt auburn pepper and multicolored squash are depicted as stark, vivid shapes against the dark background. Finally, an oblong eggplant and luscious pear are painted with watercolor and varnish on panel, the careful layers of pigment creating sumptuous tonal shifts and soft, hazy shadows. Mueller-Dick paints the tangible and the fleeting; her organic subjects take on life, but their materiality is elusive.