Still Life: Vertical Structures, Three Times Three 1965

Curator: Still Life: Vertical Structures, Three Times Three, painted by Charles Hardaker. It’s… well, it's intriguing, but I feel a sense of melancholy in its muted tones. Almost like a memory box. What strikes you most about it? Editor: That’s a great comparison! I agree. The composition is so formal, almost architectural. I wonder, is it a comment on domesticity, or something more abstract about the human condition? Curator: Perhaps both! Hardaker plays with the familiar. Boxes containing these odd trinkets—egg, bottle, block—like little specimens. Each stack is a life lived, boxed up for display. Does it remind you of anything? Editor: Maybe that impulse we have to collect and categorize things? Curator: Exactly! Like a personal museum, carefully curated. I initially felt the melancholy too, but perhaps there’s something comforting in finding order in chaos. Food for thought! Editor: Yes, seeing it that way makes the stillness feel less sad. Thanks for sharing!