Labatte, Jessica

Jessica Labatte is known for her constructed still-life photographs that explore
photographic elements such as light, the use of color, and illusion. In her Almanac for
Shade Gardeners series, Labatte created an image for every flower that grew in her
garden during one growing season. The flowers are arranged with objects from her
home, as a meditation on the passage of time, and to visualize Labatte’s reality as an
artist and mother within a domestic space. In Clematis Bubbles, a child’s bubble bottle
is placed alongside a clematis plant and fresh sliced citrus fruit. The colors are bright
and warm as clematis plants require sunny environments to thrive, and the bottle of
bubbles indicate caregiving rituals of play. In this way, Labatte’s photographs serve
as a form of self-portrait, as they are constructions made from elements of her own
home, environment, and lived experience.

Jessica Labette received her BFA and MFA from the School of the Art Institute and
has been included in exhibitions at the Humble Art Foundation, Chicago; Museum of
Contemporary Art, Chicago; the New Art Center, Newtonville, MA; Western Exhibitions,
Chicago; and the Hyde Park Art Center, among others. Labatte is Associate Professor
of Photography at Norther Illinois University.

Jessica Labatte (American, b. 1981)
Clematis Bubbles, 2017
Archival Pigment Print
14 x 11 inch image on 16 x 13 inch paper
Signed edition of 30