Vases have been a recurring theme in Joanne Tod’s paintings throughout her career. They are potent symbols valued primarily for their functional and decorative appeal, and usually excluded from fine art’s rarified realm of concepts and ideas. During the pandemic, she returned to vases, painting them as though each was a portrait expressing a unique sense of grace and individuality. Initially, the series provided a way to use time during lockdowns and focus on the pleasure of making art. Working modestly in terms of scale and materials also seemed to better suit a period of epoch global uncertainty and supply chain shortages. As the pandemic continued and death toll numbers climbed, the vases took on new readings, including a reminder of their commonly used function as funerary urns. Coupled with a news cycle dominated by social and environmental upheaval, they represent vestiges of some bygone era, when beauty seemed far more present and reassuring.
