“Wants and Needs” is a painting about the tension of girlhood and her refusal to choose between being fierce and being graceful, between the ball field and the ballet barre. She sits with a crown on her head, a Yankees jersey over her tutu, bat in hand and ball at her feet, wearing an expression that dares anyone to tell her she can’t have it all. There’s a quiet defiance in her furrowed brow that feels deeply true to childhood. I painted her for every little girl who ever wore pants under her dress to church and saw nothing contradictory about it whatsoever.
“Wants and Needs” is a painting about the tension of girlhood and her refusal to choose between being fierce and being graceful, between the ball field and the ballet barre. She sits with a crown on her head, a Yankees jersey over her tutu, bat in hand and ball at her feet, wearing an expression that dares anyone to tell her she can’t have it all. There’s a quiet defiance in her furrowed brow that feels deeply true to childhood. I painted her for every little girl who ever wore pants under her dress to church and saw nothing contradictory about it whatsoever.