The Big Red Chair Project

"There once was a big red chair in my living room. My sweet old dog, Luna, enjoyed sitting up on the back of it so she could look out the window. Luna passed, and the chair got old, too. Because this chair means a lot to me, I pushed it into my studio. It is a reassurance as I work that mv little one is still there and that there are cherished triends to come.

This chair anchored me. It has become a symbol of where my place in the world was during the Covid crisis. Now, when I ask someone to sit in the red chair, it "connects the dots" between those missing moments when was separated from mv friends and loved ones. Then we all emerged and came back together. When it was okay to see folks and the mist cleared, we were allowed to see each other again...

I began a project of portraits of my dear female friends. Why only women? I think it was because I missed them the most. I puzzled over this because also treasure my triends who are male, and certainl) would like to paint them. Maybe it is because there is the yearning - the aching of the soul - that I perceive as a part of the female psyche. This was a good place to start because it is where resonate as a female person.

But I also missed myself as an individual, a unique human being. During Covid one was only a cipher, not someone interesting. We were all just "Things" with masks who might possibly be a spreader of the disease. or worse, die. We were reduced to robots doing our jobs on a digital platform, being parents who couldn't permit our expressions of love because we were afraid we could make our children sick. I taught at the college level and suddenly had to reduce my persona into a voice on a computer monitor. This is not healthy for a person who thrived by human contact.

Thus, the Big Red Chair Project began."

Eve Page Mathias

https://www.tritonmuseum.org/bigredchairproject