CAG.3293 Rita Duffy, The Housework Series, 2022, oil on linen (series of 15), 25 x 30 cm. Purchased, 2023. © the artist.

WORK OF THE WEEK!

The Housework Series (2022) by Rita Duffy is among the newest additions to the Collection.

This series of fifteen oil-on-linen paintings depicts female characters engaged in various domestic chores – ranging from washing windows to mopping floors – set against a uniform beige-grey background. On close inspection, smaller figures appear in brushes, eyes peer out from pots, and domesticity itself becomes illusory, overwhelming, and yet remains relatable.

Duffy uses her characteristic sense of humour, irony, and exaggeration as powerful tools to confuse, entertain, and distract in equal measure. In her own distinctive way, the artist pays homage to magic realism and blurs the boundaries between fantasy and the everyday.  

‘I am an artist,’ Duffy reflects on her process, ‘drawing has my trust, it has always sustained me in tough times – I stay focused, the work gathers me in and reassures me. I leave behind the babbling TV voices and move into my own entirely magical space.’

All fifteen of The Housework Series are featured in the exhibition, RITA DUFFY: Persistent Illusion, which has now been extended until 30 October.

Rita Duffy (b.1959) is one of the major contemporary artists to emerge from Northern Ireland. Drawing from lived experience, societal observations, and political satire her work is an effective communicator and commentator on key issues. She is a member of Aosdána.

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