Sunflower Still Life with Books and Bluebird Ed. 1 of 12

This is the second piece in my sunflower series. Adding pieces in to layer the artwork with storytelling. I love using motifs of memento mori and vanitas works. Enjoy the beauty of the world - we are only here for a short time. I also adore incorporating the animals/insects I find in the garden. The butterflies and moths are seeped in symbolism: life, death, transformation. The spider is a gentle presence, preying on the smaller bugs in the garden. The blue swallow stands apart from the scene, a symbol of patience and fortitude. The scotch and beautiful Dickens' books remind us to enjoy and relish earthly pleasures (in moderation :)

This is a photographic artwork. I photograph each element myself and then carefully bring everything together in post-production. I hand paint with light and shadow to give the rich, painterly feel to my work. I oversee the printing of each piece in the edition, printed by a master printer, and sign each artwork.

Available in the following limited Editions:

100x80cm: Edition of 6+1AP
$2100

80x65cm: Edition of 12+2AP
$1100

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Lauren Starr is an Australian photo-media artist whose work explores women’s stories through history, folklore, fairytale, and the Australian landscape. Drawing on colonial histories, personal ancestry, and mythic archetypes, she creates narrative works that reimagine the past through a contemporary lens.

Working with staged photography, painterly textures, and digital compositing, Starr constructs richly layered images that sit between reality and myth. Her practice is particularly concerned with memory, inheritance, belonging, and the ways women’s lives become embedded within landscape.

Recent bodies of work have explored female narratives from the Victorian goldfields, acts of re-wilding and reclamation, and the enduring relationship between women, story, and place.

Starr is the recipient of the 2022 Bluethumb Art Prize (Photography Category and Grand Prize). Her work has been acquired by Parliament House Melbourne and Bendigo Art Gallery, and has been recognised through the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, Olive Cotton Award, Head On Photo Awards, and other national exhibitions.