APPETITE
Throughout art history, there are many notable examples of an (almost invariably male) artist painting themselves with their spouse. I've often felt ambivalent about these pictures; it's fascinating to take a peek into the domestic world of the artist but the wife is so often depicted as the mere sidekick of the more important person – the artist.
When I came to depict myself with my partner I wanted to paint a portrait that made our equal status clear. In Portrait of the Artist and Her Wife, two figures wait at a laden table, the surface strewn with comestibles for the mind and body. They sit in readiness for the feast of a shared life.
Unless you knew us personally, I don't think you can be sure who is the painter and who is the 'wife'. The inclusion of personal objects and symbolic allusions woven into a portrait painting intrigues me, and I wanted to incorporate such elements into this piece. So while many of the dishes laid out before us are of special, private significance, others are suggestive of the lives of those women before us, our queer kin, who have enabled us to sit together at this table.
Exhibited in
DIE AUGEN DER ROXANA HALLS, Haus Kunst Mitte, Berlin 2023
EYES OF ROXANA HALLS, Gallery 46, London 2022
APPETITE, Hayhill Gallery, London 2014