Vanity Prevails

CLICK HERE TO ZOOM IN ON DETAIL (2013) This "Toilet Mask" image inspired this drawing. The idea of vanity as a device of constraint appealed to me. A mutation of self-esteem, this vanity jails the beauty underneath with a strong invisible layer of unpretty, held tight by a lock for which no beautiful key appears to fit. "I was sorry for her; I was amazed, disgusted at her heartless vanity; I wondered why so much beauty should be given to those who made so bad a use of it, and denied to some who would make it a benefit to both themselves and others. But, God knows best, I concluded. There are, I suppose, some men as vain, as selfish, and as heartless as she is, and, perhaps, such women may be useful to punish them.” ― Anne Brontë, Agnes Grey