Dustin Emory

In Dustin Emory’s exhibition washed cleansing becomes an ambiguous act. The six paintings in the exhibition all take place in a bathroom, or what we recognize as one. Walls, floors and tiled surfaces merge, perspectives shift, and a solitary figure appears partially concealed by shadows, curtains or elements of the room. At times, it is difficult to distinguish the figure from its surroundings. The body seems to become part of the architecture, while the space itself takes on an almost bodily presence. We find ourselves looking in without quite knowing where we are standing. Once a communal activity, bathing has largely become a private ritual. The bathroom is perhaps the most private room in a home, where the body is exposed yet protected from the outside world. A place to withdraw, undisturbed. Yet in Emory’s paintings, where the same figure reappears in variations of this enclosed space, the intimacy of the room begins to feel increasingly oppressive. What offers a moment of solitude also seems to hold the figure in place.