What is the relationship between artistic representation and the objects represented? What does it mean to create a naturalistic or realistic picture? Issues surrounding mimesis are among the oldest questions in the history of Western art. From ancient Greece to the Renaissance, artists have developed techniques to create illusion of space and volume on the two dimensional surface. But the subject becomes far more complicated when we extend our inquiry to art from other traditions. Not only did artists have different agendas in representing nature in their paintings, they also had different concepts of naturalism, realism, and illusion.

This session invites papers that examines topics on mimesis, naturalism, realism, or other aspects of the relationship between the painted surface and the physical world. Papers on art from outside the European tradition are especially encouraged in order to create a diverse group of presentations and initiate a conversation between different artistic traditions.