We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Mixed media oil paintings made during the pandemic. (Ink, acrylic, oil stick, vintage papers, fabric, thread, netting, etc.) 16” x 20” to 30” x 40”. 2020-2021. Commentary below.
"Did they find any eggs? Did they see any blossoms?" 30" x 40". Ink, acrylic, oil stick, papers, fabric, string, rubber netting. Stretched canvas. 2020
"Would that We had Loved it More" 20" x 24". Ink, acrylic, oil stick, papers, fabric, burlap. Stretched canvas. 2020
"C stands for Carlo, Looking through the bars, Down into the dreary street, 'Neath the twinkling stars". 16" x 20". Ink, acrylic, oil stick, fabric, papers, rubber netting. Stretched canvas. 2020.
"Find three gray birds. Find four brown birds." 20" x 24". Ink, acrylic, oil stick, paper. Stretched canvas. 2021
"I don't mind telling you the story, though much of it will sound false to you"
"And kissed him three times three." 20" x 20". Ink, acrylic, oil stick, papers, fabric, string, photo. Stretched canvas. 2021
"Every Wound a Window” 24" x 24". Ink, acrylic, oil stick, papers, rubber netting. Stretched canvas. 2021
"In the Dream the City *Was* the Dream" 16" x 20". Ink, acrylic, oil stick, fabric, papers, rubber netting. Stretched canvas. 2021.
"Big Ladder" 24" x 30". Ink, acrylic, oil stick, papers, fabric, rubber netting. Stretched canvas. 2020
"Split Zebra with Moon” 20" x 24". Ink, acrylic, oil stick, papers, fabric. Stretched canvas. 2021
"The Mind of a House Gives Birth to a House" 30" x 40". Ink, acrylic, oil stick, papers, fabric. Stretched canvas. 2020.
"A Postman Opens the Mailbox"
"Little Ladder” 18" x 24". Ink, acrylic, oil stick, papers, fabric, rubber netting. Stretched canvas. 2021
"Reach" 30" x 40". Acrylic, oil stick, papers, fabric, thread. Stretched canvas. 2020.
This collection started as a series of abstracts when the pandemic arrived. Unsurprisingly themes of emptiness, escape, expanding interiors, and the felt presence of an unsafe world outside one’s home seeped into the compositions. Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves and J.G. Ballard’s “The Enormous Space” were floating through my head during this period, as was Shirley Jackson’s classic novel which serves as the title for this series.