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ArchiveBorn 1956 in London, UK
Eleanor Moreton's paintings draw on historical events, international fables, memories, literature and found images. She interrogates our notions of self and home - that which is often deeply sentimental but can also be a place of oppression and abuse. The Austro-Hungarian Empire features heavily in her recent work as a locus for exploring this contradiction. Her Queen paintings are of authoritative women that posses a quality Moreton thinks of as the symbolic masculine: in some instances this may be masculine attire, in some it’s their voice. Moreton draws on Bette Davis, the writers Vita Sackville-West (a cross-dresser) and Daphne du Maurier, as well as singing Queens Kathleen Ferrier, Maria Callas, Emmylou Harris and Dusty Springfield. Fancy Queen with Orange Lips presents a young Elizabeth II morphed into an African mask, in an attempt to turn her sweet, smiling face into something more powerful and challenging.
 Fancy Queen with Orange Lips, 2009, Oil on canvas, 45 x 35cm |
