Boxed

Female with long black hair wearing blackclothing and sitting inside a box.

Painting of a teenage girl wearing a purple shirt and jeans in a box

Painting of young non-binary person in a box wearing denim shorts and a blue shirt

Painting of young black woman in a box wearing jeans and a black t- shirt

Painting of a woman wearing a yellow blazer with red hair who is in a box. Her expression is one of distress.

Painting of young woman in a box. she has long red hair and is wearing grey pants and black boots.

Young person with short spiky red hair inside a box. They are wearing a white slip and Doc Marten boots.

Painting of a woman in a box with long black hair, wearing a red shirt.

“The woman’s body is one of the essential elements of the situation she occupies in this world.”

-Simone De Beauvoir

All of the paintings in this series are of women and self-described non-binary females.

I started this series in response to the 2022 Supreme court decision overturning Roe v Wade and the attempt to contain and control women by literally depicting them in boxes. As this series has progressed, I'm now painting women who are displaying more agency and power by breaking out of the box and directly confronting the viewer.

Barbara Pollak-Lewis

Painter/ CURATOR/ educator

BOXed