"Beyond just the beauty, I want the viewer to see as I see, to feel the emotion I feel when a leaf balances just-so and points the eye to the next little narrative that is part of the larger work. This beauty all around us is fleeting, and yet can be embedded forever in a perfect moment that is a photograph."
Paulette Tavormina lives and works in New York City and Connecticut. Amidst the bustle that defines the city and the tranquility of the country orchards, she can often be found searching for the perfectly imperfect flora that characterize her photographs. Her arrangements often recall the sumptuous detail of seventeenth century Old Master still life painters, and serve as intensely personal interpretations of timeless, universal stories. With a painterly perspective reminiscent of Francisco de Zurbarán, Adriaen Coorte, Juan Sánchez Cotán and Giovanna Garzoni, Tavormina creates worldly still lifes.
Tavormina also has a successful career as a commercial photographer; recently photographing Gucci’s Alchemist’s Garden Perfume campaign. She has photographed works of art for Sotheby’s, fragrances for GOOP, and recipes for The Del Posto Cookbook (Hachette) with chef, Mark Ladner. She has been commissioned by National Geographic Magazine and The New York Times, among others. Previously, Tavormina was a prop and food stylist in Hollywood, her work seen on the silver screen in seven films such as Nixon, The Astronaut's Wife and The Perfect Storm.
Tavormina is a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant. Her monograph, Paulette
Tavormina: Seizing Beauty (Monacelli Press, 2016) was reviewed by The New York Times and Architectural Digest. Tavormina’s photographs are held in museum, corporate and private collections and have been exhibited in Paris, London, Moscow, Lugano, Madrid, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Palm Beach, Boston, Palm Desert and San Francisco.
Solo Museum Shows
The Academy Art Museum, Easton, Maryland, 2016
Snite Museum of Art at Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, 2016
Museum Collections
Alimentarium, Musée de l’Alimentation, Vevey, Switzerland
Art in Embassies, US Department of State, Washington D.C.
Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida FL
Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN
Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID
Museum Collections
Alimentarium, Musée de l’Alimentation, Vevey, Switzerland
Art in Embassies, US Department of State, Washington D.C.
Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida FL
Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN
Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID