Anna Randal for Art-Sheep
Lee Price is a New York-based artist who paints women in their most private moments -while they are snacking.
Whether in bed or in the bathtub, Price’s women are caught eating junk food, ice-cream, cereal or Chinese food. Inspired by her own eating disorder, Price perfectly understands the anxiety, shame and guilt a woman feels when she chooses food as comfort.
“In this society, there’s so much pressure for women to be thin. We’re not supposed to have appetites – and not just for food, but for a lot of things. We’re the givers and not the consumers, and I think some of my recent paintings are about the women staring at the viewers and saying, ‘I’m not going to censor my appetite,'” she writes in her statement.
By using herself as the model for these works, Price not only admits and embraces her weakness, but gives strength to women who feel pressured into starving themselves in order to look thinner. These women -or this woman, choose to enjoy comfort food, while eating it stands as a symbol of liberation. The way they look straight into the viewer’s eyes and their strong but pure facial expressions, show that not only are they not afraid to be caught in the act, but they are also certain of their choice to eat whatever -and wherever, they want.
via ignant
