LORRAINE WHELAN : HOMEBODY CHILD : 2006 - 2010

Homebody Child
2006 - 2010

This work addresses personal issues of domesticity and the relationship between childhood and age.

Having had experiences of death and trauma through loved ones, in addition to my own near-death experiences, I am intent to focus on the positive aspects of daily life. Searching for joy in simplicity, my method is to quietly discover sympathy in my immediate environment.

Through the use of both traditional and personal symbols, I explore what it means to be alive in the 21st century: as an artist, wife, mother, sister, daughter. The use of gold leaf in these paintings has both an iconic significance and an obvious visualisation of preciousness. As one ages each moment - each personal thing - each relationship - becomes inestimable and cannot be taken for granted.

Raising my daughter and doing studio work from home, I have been constantly amazed at the physical, emotional and cognitive development of my child, and have appropriated some of her drawings as a starting point for my new work. The simplicity of the world as seen through a child's eyes emphasises the very opposite of a complex adult perspective, reflecting innocence and its inevitable loss. The cast shadows of household objects/still lifes are painted as an extension of personality and domesticity.

The work in Homebody Child is a distillation of the emotions associated with thoughtful maturity: looking back on youth, looking forward to the future, appreciating the moment of now.

Click on the small images right to view larger images from this body of work.

Click on the thumbnail images below to see larger images.
40 Years Apple Dad First Meeting
Chair Plant Hope
Home Wedding Geode I Love You Mummy
Elise II Rainbow Three Lamps The Family at Home
Laundry Window Plants Kitchen Chair Kitchen
Window Sill Daddy Hello Big bad wolf
  Mummy Elise