FROM THE EXPECTED TO THE POSSIBLE

This work is a metaphor on the traditional expectations imposed on women, and the decisions women make to defy those expectations.

The bowl in the lower right represents the traditional roles in which women are expected to remain, regardless as to whether or not it is her choice. Note the blue leaf motif on the inside of the bowl…it is the same motif that is standing upright at the top of the painting, no longer restricted to a determined shape. Pears, as I have often pointed out, are representative of the female form, or fertility, and of nurturing those around them. These pears were expected to remain in the bowl, as predetermined by society, religion and family, but they have sprouted wings and flown! Up they go, away from the bowl, flying into a new golden world, beckoned by the blue vines, now freed from the restrictions of the bowl.

In this work, I also continue my motifs of the twigs and complex patterning, which is an homage to the work by my mother and aunts. The patterns are reminiscent of the fabrics often found in my childhood home, fabrics that were transformed into the clothes we wore for school, play and sleep.

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This work is on canvas that has been textured ahead of painting. The imagery was created with matte, flat and iridescent acrylics.