Bittersweet

In “Bittersweet,” I explore the question of how the genre of interior painting can be renegotiated in a contemporary context. At the center is the staging of the body and objects within enclosed spaces. The interior becomes a site of ambivalence, where familiar things lose their usual order and take on new meanings. I am particularly interested in objects that are traditionally associated with care work. These objects assume new roles that appear unsettling and enigmatic. A central idea is to subvert their everyday function, which is often coded as feminine. Rather than depicting them as neutral household utensils, they become actors whose purpose remains ambiguous. A needle or a pair of scissors, in this context, can take on a dual character. On the one hand, they symbolize domestic care; on the other, they become potentially defensive or threatening objects. In this way, pictorial spaces emerge in which bodies and objects exist in tension with one another. The interior becomes a place where social notions of care, control, and gender roles visibly begin to unravel.