Inside Out

The Native Americans, it is said, did not approve of the Pilgrim's tendency to build houses with more than one floor because when people live too far off the ground they loose touch with the earth. This series of paintings reflects my research into the relationship of architectural house styles and decorative, domestic patterns in colonial New England. By juxtaposing Salt Box, Federal, and Arts and Crafts style houses with flock and toile patterns, I have explored the longing for control over one's environment in an era when settlers had to fight for survival against nature. I am interested in domestic, decorative patterns, and how they suggest a control over nature where flowers are forever in bloom and bees don't sting. I wonder if it is the beauty of the image or the predictability of the repetition that es them appealing in the home. Does the sense of control one has in the interior extend to the outside creating a belief that the wider environment could and should be controlled.