Domestic Interiors
Acrylic and mixed media on paper
1977–1985
“She sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission. She looks at all the things they own: the towels and the toaster, the alarm clock and the drapes. She likes looking at the walls, at how neatly their corners meet, the linoleum roses on the floor, the ceiling smooth as wedding cake.”
Inspired by a centuries-old genre of paintings focused on the humble activities of home life, Domestic Interiors express my own struggles to balance the rigorous demands of artist, wife, mother, and citizen. I became increasingly aware of the deeply ingrained cultural roles I had inherited, and I was continually haunted by the ghost of Betty Crocker. Throughout this period, I explored modes of representation that evolved from stylized cartoon imagery to more realistic portrayals inspired by painting mentors from Degas, Manet, and Velasquez to Caravaggio, Breughel, and Bosch.
