No inspiration in this poky town

Acrylic paint, mediums, and vintage magazine clippings on cradled wood panel

11×14 inches, 1 3/4 inch deep, edges finished white

A clipping from a 1924 woman’s magazine is embedded into this piece, easily visible and readable. It addresses the challenges of becoming an ‘up and coming lady of influence’ by admonishing the rewards of be being gracious and seeking out “great artistes” to hear you. Reading articles from only 100 years ago casts a stark portrait of the expectations, forced goals, and encouraged desires of women in the past. Though some of these things have not changed, it can be easier to see the irony ( or terror) in something so removed in it’s language.

Surrounding the clipping are abstracted from representational of bottles, a table, an almost-stilllife. it is jarred and split, overwhelmed by line which serves no function to the description of the objects. It is in the flux of the forms, the line and the clipping that the piece lives.

This painting is from my 2020 exhibition entitled “Object Lessons for the Tired.” To read the exhibition statement or see more work click here.