Miriam McConnon’s recent work presents paintings and drawings of domestic objects. She is preoccupied with the nature of these objects and their narratives. The work is concerned with the human connection to the domestic object.
The artist re-presents these everyday objects in a new context in order to highlight an intimacy about them and to expose the power they have to reveal certain aspects of the rhythm of life.
In McConnon’s work the chosen objects are sometimes re-contextualized. The background becomes placeless and is shrouded in pattern. This pattern creates a sense of nostalgia around the object, its sense of security, seeking to preserve its memory through decoration.
In this show ‘In Life’s Pocket’, McConnon’s work aims to trigger a social and a personal association with the objects it presents, touching on the theme of how domestic objects are connected to gender association. We are presented with a line of suits on the march, a house coat that has been hung up and stilettos that are in a line ready for battle. This preoccupation with gender association and the domestic object is perhaps most evident in the large-scale drawing “Dolls”. In this work, a tailor’s mannequins stand on display. They are torn at the chest. The measuring tapes around their necks weigh them down. In this more feminine pocket of life, strength meets vulnerability, reflecting the complexity of gender association in our domestic world.
