Notes

"A continuation of his meditation on ageing, Water Me comes as a derivative exploration of the traditional still life. Like previous bodies of work, this exhibition is an embodiment of the “spirit of now”, revealing a parody of himself as the ever-lasting millennial – especially coming to terms with living, ageing, dying and being successful – through the mediated experience of material consumerism.

Like a traditional still life painting – an art form executed as an affective reminder of the transience of life – Paulsen’s work is imbued with allegorical meaning and (literally) layered symbolism. A recurring motif in Water Me, it is, historically, a coded vocabulary that renders fresh flowers as emblems of death – and yet, for Paulsen, this body of work is not so much about the contrasting of the transient with the ultimatum of death as it is about the contrasting of the beautiful with the inevitability of ageing. He is a millennial doing what millennials do best – ironically complaining about the many challenges, and uncertainty, of successfully navigating contemporary life.

Using felt as his chosen medium, Paulsen’s challenge comes in transforming a traditionally three-dimensional image into a flattened-out, two-dimensional one – while maintaining the characteristics of a still life."

https://www.smacgallery.com/exhibitions-archive-3/water-me, accessed 20 February 2022.

Provenance

Purchased by the current owner from SMAC Gallery, Johannesburg, February 2019.

Exhibited

SMAC Gallery, Johannesburg, Water Me, 8 December 2018 to 9 February 2019.