No Outside Clothes on the Bed Kathleen O'Hara
My work explores the sacred, cluttered geography of a teenage girl’s bedroom. Inspired by this, I have created an installation that loosely follows a reconstruction of my own bedroom. Over the past year, I have focused on the idea of fandom culture: the way fans love what they love, and how it shapes who they are.
This body of work challenges the hierarchy of painting and where it lives. There is no difference between a white wall gallery and the walls of a teenage girl's bedroom. The paintings on the walls of my project space are meant to teleport viewers back to their teenage years. My project is an exploration of what it means to fully consume an interest until that interest, in turn, consumes you.
The “not like other girls” social phenomenon was born out of the rejection of social stereotypes and judgement. It began in the early 2000s and has grown stronger, even to this day because its sentiments ring true with such a wide audience. AFAB individuals who grew up being made fun of turned in the opposite direction, thinking that standing out on purpose was at least better than standing out on accident.
My thesis is a project of acceptance of who I am and being proud of my interests. At other times in my life, I would have been scared to talk so much about my interests or tried to like what others around me seemed to think was normal. Now I am showing by example that all that matters is what you like, not what others may think or say.
This project also marks a personal evolution in my practice. While I am queer and have often focused my work on queer subjects, this series has allowed me to expand my skills and my subject matter. I have challenged myself by working on both much larger and much smaller scales than before, focusing on portraits that capture a wider range of gender and aesthetics.
I have also begun incorporating text into my paintings to help tell the stories of the people and fandoms I depict. Through this combination of image and word, I hope to show the true depth of what it means to be a fan. A series of acrylic paintings on wood and paper featuring the rock band Xdinary Heroes as well as motifs from designer Vivienne Westwood.
