A series of dualities shape photographer Juanita McCleary’s work: between modern and classical, digital and analog, natural and artificial, Australian and European, timelessness and instantaneity. Raised in rural Australia, the Melbourne-based artist’s latest series applies the tools and techniques of digital photography to creating images that evoke the floral still lifes of the Old Dutch Masters. By manipulating studio lighting and graphic technologies, McCleary achieves an effect that mimics these meticulous paintings’ composition and texture while maintaining a distinctly photographic aesthetic. This style aligns her with European art practices, but her Australian landscapes and flora pay homage to more personal lived experiences of nature.

As with the style of painting to which her work refers, McCleary’s stunning use of color, sharpness and light achieves an effect that is both naturalistic and stylized. In doing so, she offers new approaches to the questions posed by the classical painters with whom she is in dialogue. Each image of intimate beauty reflects a snippet of a natural cycle and a lifelong artistic process.