“No Two Alike” explores the infinite variety of nature, where no two elements fully resemble each other. This is captured through the medium of photography within one-hundred oyster shells. As a whole, the one- hundred photographs create a visual archive of what were once living organisms. Shells symbolise immortality, eternal life. A memory of a warm summer day by the beach.
“Back at my studio I put on gloves and start gently cleaning the oyster shells. The interior of the shells, once cleaned, reveals beautiful iridescent shades. The inside of the shells is soft, and delicate. The outer shell feels rigid and sharp, protective. They smell like the sea. A strong and salty scent. I am thinking of where did they came from. Born, grown and gathered by fisherman. Served, eaten, discarded. Who are the people who gathered them, served them, consumed them?”
- Desia Ava
*Oysters #01-#10 Selected for the Vårsalongen Spring Salon exhibition at Liljevalchs Konsthall Stockholm 9 Feb-21 April 2024
#01
#33
#20
#100
Oysters #1-#100
When arranged in a grid 10 x 10 photographs each image 40 x 50 cm with a 2 cm gap in between the whole installation of 100 Photographs is 418cm x 518cm