FERN APFEL

JUNE 13 - JULY 12, 2026

Remnants of the past: old stamps, pages of diaries, pieces from well-thumbed books are my subjects. I am a still-life artist, however, instead of painting familiar and traditional subjects, I paint pictures of paper. I work from real letters and memorabilia that I have gathered over many years and from all over the world. 

I find great beauty in these old papers. They are nostalgic reminders of things that no longer exist and histories of bygone times. In old letters and old things, we find loved ones, parents, old friends, and our old selves. Built from the stuff of everyday correspondence — letters, handwritten notes, scraps of paper layered together as if pulled from the bottom of a drawer, I arrange these fragments with a light touch, letting the colors and familiar shapes of paper speak to the intimacy of written communication.

My work explores memory, language, and the passage of time. My pictures transform fragments of personal and collective history into quiet, meditative spaces that consider loss, presence, and the persistence of human connection. Space and color are key elements in these minimal compositions, as the ephemera transform into abstract painterly shapes. Although the human figure is absent from my work, my paintings are deeply rooted in the human condition.