Patty Carroll

I have always drifted between the outer world of appearances and the inner world of dreams and nightmares. In my work, I try to combine the two worlds. This particular project is about making a home, which is an issue that has obsessed me forever, (it seems) because as a...
I have always drifted between the outer world of appearances and the inner world of dreams and nightmares. In my work, I try to combine the two worlds. This particular project is about making a home, which is an issue that has obsessed me forever, (it seems) because as a kid, our family life was difficult and unusual. I always wanted to have a “perfect” home where everyone got along, was sober, was home for dinner, and had towels from a store, not pilfered from the last motel we stayed in. I spent much of my young adult years trying to sew; a symbolic way of piecing together and re-forming my life the way I wanted it. Fabric played a big part of that desire and frustration of life. Drapery also becomes a symbol in this work for an established, traditional home environment where décor is considered seriously, and does not have mismatched furniture and styles. Drapes also close off the outer world and contain life within, besides being the finishing touch to a proper home. The Anonymous Women project began while living in England, where my identity was determined by my domestic position, because in a traditional culture, one’s domestic status often eclipses one’s professional or personal identity. Returning to the USA, and remaking a home and self-image, home furnishings and objects began to represent personal realms of laughter and sadness. Home-making remains a conflicted, universal subject for many women, whether as a place of power, or because of its prison-like atmosphere. Yet, all women need “ A room of their own.” These pictures are about becoming the dwelling itself. I am addressing the sharp edges of domesticity: the home as a place of comfort, or a place where decoration becomes an obsession, where the woman is camouflaged by her domestic interior rendering her invisible. The images reference classical draped statues, nuns in habits, the burka, the Virgin Mary, priests robes, ancient Greek and Roman dress, and get inspiration from store windows!
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Kilim
Housey
Choppy
Lampscape
Toasty
Domestic Bliss
Leaning
Pitched
Flowery
Sweepy