About the work

'Compositions' is a series of still life photographs of common objects that you might find around the house. Across the series there’s functional things like a toothbrush, and a felt pen. And some things that are normally discarded like a champagne cork and ribbon from a birthday present. It’s a joy to make ordinary things look precious.

To make a still life picture, I’ll poke around in the fridge or under the bathroom sink. I’m looking for objects with potential, pleasant shapes and textures. I don’t start with a clear idea so there’s a lot of experimentation. I’ll try different arrangements and will change the direction and quality of light. I’ll fuss and tweak for hours until the picture feels right. This image is more about the experience of looking, than it is about these particular objects. I selected them for their surface quality and materiality, because I am drawn to objects that have potential to arrest the viewer’s attention.

About the artist

Shelley Horan makes vibrant and surprising pictures of people and objects. Her work focuses on the core features of photographed subjects and objects; playing with the ways they clash and harmonise, exploring unlikely marriages of textures and brilliances, toying with uncanniness and scale, and squishing these diverging elements together to form a unified image.

This work by Shelley Horan is presented by the Metro Tunnel Creative Program in partnership with Melbourne Fringe. The Melbourne Fringe Festival returns from 3–22 October, re-imagining the city as an epic art adventure playground. For over 40 years Melbourne Fringe has been serving up Victoria’s biggest independent arts festival, with a wild and diverse program of theatre, comedy, cabaret, visual art, dance, circus, experimental art and much more.