Danielle Orchard

Danielle Orchard paints women in quiet moments of contemplation. They are usually depicted in their inner sanctum, like the privacy of their own bed. The poised angular bodies in paintings like Yellow Bathroom (2022) resemble Picasso’s early Cubist work. Unlike in Picasso’s paintings, Orchard’s women do not exist solely for the viewer’s pleasure. They are busying themselves with the all-consuming task of simply existing. Orchard filters art history through the lens of a “woman painter living in New York”.

Orchard is ambivalent towards history. On the one hand, she chooses to paint her figures nude so their presentation is timeless. But on the other hand, she includes objects that reek of the 21st century: a hairdryer, a can of pop, red solo cups. Similarly she incorporates bowls of food in her paintings, like the masters of the so-called Dutch Golden Age. Instead of fruit, we find popcorn – an invitation to the viewer to stay a while and indulge in the cinematic scene Orchard has laid out for them.