Featured Oil Painting

We all knew her, growing up. But where is she now?

This cheeky moment came to me after pondering the concept of the girl next door. Typically idealized as quirky and cool, she is also considered to be unassuming, uncontroversial, and overall familiar. She’s the ultimate fantasy; the perfect woman you’d want to bring home to meet the family. But what would happen if she were to rebel? The Girl Next Door, 16x20 oil painting on canvas, was designed to consider this question.

Red silk, typically associated with pleasure and sex, here represents a lust for life. There’s an embrace toward femineity as we consider her taking back her power as a woman feeling overwhelmed in a people pleasing world. To make a statement like this is her way of breaking the mold and to release every burden; every secret that she ever hid under the garments that were her assumed role in life.

This bold declaration of self-love, backed by glittering waters on a hot, glorious day, is her way of showing that she is better than okay; she’s free. On a journey to claim her independence and savor every second of this newfound trait. Airing out her laundry with confidence, not caring what the world thinks. If anything, she’s hoping that the world pays more attention to these actions rather than to the societal pressures placed onto her of being branded as this type of woman in the modern age.

The Girl Next Door was created to reignite conversations surrounding the idea of “the perfect woman”. In the modern era, what traits should she possess? Is it worth the risk to truly self-express; does it outweigh any backlash that may come from it? Can a woman stand up for herself and not be branded as being a nuisance? What does it take to truly be confident?

As we ponder these questions, let us recognize the power within each of us to claim the lives that we deserve to enjoy. With every decision that we choose to make, may it be led with confidence. And may whatever flag that we wish to fly, wave free in the wind.