Time to lay the table: These animated still lifes are a satisfying sight

Brooklyn-based illustrator Anjali Kamat has always enjoyed drawing food and sharing stories around the subject, “because it’s my favourite way to connect with the people in my life,” she says. It wasn’t until lockdown that the artist truly put this into motion creatively.

Inspired by a still life drawing challenge and workshop on Instagram – @stillherestilllife run by Tess Smith-Roberts and Zena Kay – Anjali started to work away during the long days of lockdown. “A lot of my art was digital at the time, and I was looking at screens a lot, so I felt the urge to use my hands and draw on paper again,” she says. “While I was cutting and painting, I thought it would be fun to shoot a little BTS animation of them sliding into place, since I had all the separate pieces of the artwork anyway.”

Initially a small experiment, this playful animation style gained a lot of attention. “But then I got sidetracked and didn’t make many more at the time,” Anjali says. Recently, Tess and Zena revived their still life challenge, and Anjali found herself collaging a cosy dining table scene once again – a welcome relief from her digital work. “I was reminded of how much fun it had been to do this kind of tedious process of drawing, painting, cutting, gluing, and shooting,” she says, so the artist started to make many more pieces in the same spirit.

Now Anjali’s portfolio is packed with vibrant still life collages, stitched together with the handmade touch of stop motion. In these detailed small scale cut-outs, breakfast treats are served, coffee cups are filled and candles are lit for dinner – everything finds a place at the table.