Bordeau Vineyard 4

Steven Fleit’s Bordeau Vineyard 4 is a vivid evocation of life, death, and rebirth. The deep blue of the grapes, rich reds and greens of the leaves, and abundance of foliage communicate a sense of burgeoning life—flourishing under the sun. Death too, however, runs rampant across the canvas. The mass of tangled leaves and branches is suspended between life and death. We can see the red and brown colors of August begin to consume the summer green of the vegetation, while some leaves have already completed the cycle of their existence and turned entirely brown. These brittle expired leaves are harbingers of what’s to come; soon all the greenery will join them and fall from the vines, leaving only a commingling of barren branches. But the story does not end there. In time, spring will eclipse winter and everything will be born again.

Bordeau Vineyard 4 asks us to consider these questions of life and death; not to dwell on them in sorrow but to embrace them and wait for the coming of spring.