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Currently on view until January 7th, 2023 at Hashimoto Contemporary in New York City is artist Megan Ellen MacDonald's solo exhibition, "Wet Dream."

Utilizing 3D software and virtual reality to create intricate scenes, the artist reinterprets these compositions via traditional oil painting techniques informed by historical still life painting of the Dutch Golden Era. Continuing the exploration of contrasting themes of objectification and power, MacDonald expands on how these themes relate to the femme experience through coded iconography.

For Wet Dream, the artist depicts distorted, opulent tableaus of natural elements filled with flowers, skulls and fruit, which allude to the commodification and seduction within an elaborate inner world; one that clumsily mimics elements of ours but maintains its own unique aesthetic. Glossy, overly ripe fruits and flowers hang from delicate stems, drooping heavily from the weight. Shucked oysters tantalizingly call to the viewer, holding a shimmering pearl at it’s center. MacDonald’s saturated palette is slick and full of shades of pink, what is considered to be a traditionally femme color.

About the latest body of work, the artist states, “each work serves as a memento mori and love letter to the complexities of nature that we take for granted. While the work explores feminine identity and the dichotomy of gender and power, the narratives in the exhibition include references to the fragility and beauty of the natural world.”

Seductive yet unnerving in their surreal nature, the artist paints scenes which allude to the impact of human intervention with nature, and our inclination to replace real world experiences with more curated, commodified existences.

A flower for you.

Details from Le sommeil, 1866.

Gustave Courbet (French, 1819–1877)