An Interior

Abstract

The work An Interior is a painted room. It grew from the proposition, ‘What if I painted wallpaper?’ This proposition is related to my ongoing interest in the psychological and social functions of decor and labour spent decorating. Some questions I ask are: How do people use the spaces of their homes and the stuff they keep in them to build and maintain their relationships to themselves and others? And, a longstanding puzzle in contemporary practice, what is the relationship between decor and art, especially with regard to gender? The paintings in An Interior are an investigation of these questions through the lens of my body and experiences. This document expands on that investigation in three sections. The introductory section is a formal discussion of the work. The second section provides an overview of the complex relationship between the contemporary home, its decor, and its inhabitants which compelled the work An Interior, and the last discusses specificities of my painting practice and process as a mode for understanding this relationship.