During the past decade, Amy Cutler (*1974 in Poughkeepsie, New York) has become internationally known for exquisitely detailed narrative works of art. Set in a richly imagined universe and created through a pastiche of memories, observations, and insights, they are populated mostly by women engaged in enigmatic tasks and impossible situations: tigers are mended and restriped; figures emerge from the rocky crags of a fjord.With faces that are both resolute and introspective, Cutler’s women symbolize the emotional complexities of real life situations. This lithograph is also in this tradition. A headless woman sits on the edge of a barrel that is filled to the brim with grain, between carefully bound suitcases and handbags, obviously ready for a journey. She wears a dress and a sweater, and carries an umbrella in her hand, yet she has no shoes and supports her feet on top of her own head, which has an unhappy, yet determined expression. Who or what has robbed the woman of her head? Is someone going to pick her up? Is she barefoot so that she can feel the ground beneath her feet? Will her supplies last? The observer asks many questions, and we wish the traveler good luck!
