100cm x 140cm Framed

Mixed media on canvas

I paint myself, bent into the shape of an archway, wearing a different hat each time.

This series began with a simple observation: no matter what role I'm playing on any given day, hunting down dinner, tending to something small and dependent, nourishing my own body, providing for the people I love, the welcome mat stays out. There is always a door open, always someone or something arriving. The archway is that threshold, my body made into architecture, holding the shape of care even when it's tiring to hold.

Hunt, Nourish, Tend, and Provide are not meant as burdens. They are the ordinary, repeated acts that make up a life, rendered in bold pattern and colour so they can be looked at properly, maybe for the first time. Nourish is not only about the food I eat, it is also about the work that feeds me, the hours in the studio that are their own kind of sustenance. The textures and motifs draw on ancient Egyptian art, a nod to the idea that these roles are not new. Women have always shaped themselves around thresholds.

Painted in mixed media on canvas, each work asks the same question from a different angle: what does it cost, and what does it give, to always be the one holding the door open?