Ben Kamihira, Still Life with Plaster Masks

Kamihira’s still life is a dramatic tableau of highly charged relationships between objects of disparate textures and characteristics. The carefully rendered cabbage, the onions shedding their skins, and the beautiful seashells offer erotic resonances. The plaster casts may refer back to the artist’s days as a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), where he was trained to draw from casts of antique sculptures. Kamihira shows his virtuosity, juxtaposing different kinds of glass—a Coke bottle, carafe, and glass pitcher—with a copper samovar.