Shelter in Paint: a portrait of an empty house

"Shelter in Paint: a portrait of an empty house" is an investigation into private space and private thought through the visual language of representational painting. Structured as though moving through the rooms of the house, this paper discusses different thematics of domestic space in response to a painting created throughout the course of this degree. It considers the entrance for the concept of interiority, the foundation as the history of interior art, vacant corners as spaces for daydreaming, domestic objects as portraits of the inhabitant, the neighbourhood in relation to public space, the kitchen as the domestic core, the bedroom for intimacy, and the attic for secrets and privacy. These parallels between psychological space and physical space attempt to answer research questions related to the emotional power of interior space, the rift between public and private life, and the ability of interior space to reveal to the inhabitant.