"Home," No. 11 in the series "Young Woman Handling Her Shit."
"Home," 14x17 watercolor on Bristol. Number 11 in the "Young Woman Handling Her Shit" series. Original is $245, unframed. You can select a print or the original from this listing. This image went viral last year, and is significant in the way it illustrates the feeling of content relief upon arriving home from a long day of work.
Limited run of 99 signed and numbered prints per size, three sizes available (select from drop-down): 8x10, 11x14, 13x19.
ABOUT THE SERIES
With this series, I want to portray a woman who is empowered, independent, and in no rush to meet anyone's demands except her own. The first few pieces in this series focus on the importance of a slow morning, preparing your mind and body for the day. She is a southern woman, a Louisiana woman perhaps, who has set up her home and life for her pleasure and peace. She is building on it, and though she is far from done, the feeling of gratitude imbues her daily perspective. All the pieces portray a woman performing daily tasks in the nude, or semi-nude; all poses are movements that I feel many women move through or desire to move through in reality. The series is about femininity, the allure, and rarity of a woman confident in her own skin and solitude.
To clarify, the figure may or may not be a "single" woman; however, to me, it is important to portray a strong woman in a solitary environment. The reason for this is because so many of us (men and women alike) fear solitude in our core being as humans. It's typically an unfamiliar and daunting lifestyle that our hyper-connected society is very far removed from. We also encounter social experiences which reinforce the stigmas that come along with "being alone": thoughts and notions like, "Why have you never been married? What do you do all day? Why don't you have kids? You should go out more! You need more people in your life! Meet my friend, so-and-so. You must be a bitch. You must be selfish." There's been many articles written by fellow independent women addressing the annoying implication that being single, or living singularly, is a thing of great concern and worry...so much so that someone who has no vested interest in your success as an individual, someone who plays no part in paying your bills, someone who is quite miserable in their own life, will come out of the woodwork to tell you just how worried they are for you and how they think you should live your life. It's incredibly common and frankly, quite annoying.
My hope is that creating these images of a woman content and confident in her solitude will help break away the stigma that being alone is a thing to be pitied. My hope is that solitude and independence will be viewed as a thing to desire, a thing that facilitates priceless personal growth, and a thing that is encouraged and valued as a whole. I also hope to glamorize the lifestyle with an approachable, timeless, sensuality. It is my belief that we are the strongest version of ourselves when we are no longer afraid to be alone, when we deliberately choose to allow people into our lives because they have proven to enrich our life, rather than distract us from our inherent insecurities that we are not yet brave enough to come face-to-face with.