Thanksgiving still life

A still life organized around seasonal plenty — the gourds, corn, and squash traditionally associated with harvest — becomes in Kitaoka's hands a study in bold form and saturated color. Each object is simplified to its essential silhouette: the ribbed globe of pumpkin, the elongated curve of squash, the spiked geometry of husked corn. The composition reads less as an arrangement than as a collection of strong individual presences, each vegetable claiming its place on the picture plane with the same assertiveness Kitaoka brought to landscape.