Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art

About this Work

Amy Cutler’s works are both realistic and fantastic. Based in the traditions of European folk art and book illustration, they often depict women performing simple, repetitive tasks. However, the nature of their work defies easy explanation. In this print—based on Cutler’s 2007 drawing Hair Mill and our first example by the artist—four women pull blond hair through their bare toes to plait long, rope-like braids. Similar braids hold their swinging chairs and wind around their own heads. Although oddly humorous, there is something ominous about their similar appearances and the windowless room. Even the picture’s exquisitely beautiful details suggest a dystopian society where everything, particularly “women’s work,” is controlled.