Make a Wish
A reflection on the fragile balance between celebration, societal expectations, and aging anxiety
This painting explores the tension between youth and societal pressure for perfection, symbolized through precarious balance and birthday cakes.
Make a Wish portrays a young woman perched precariously atop a stack of rocks, her balance mirroring the delicate tension between youthful celebration and the pressure to maintain perfection. Wearing a party hat and holding birthday cakes, she embodies both the joy of milestones and the anxiety of aging in a world that often values appearance over authenticity.
The inspiration for this piece comes from the subject’s experience in the cosmetic surgery industry, where she navigates a culture obsessed with defying time. The birthday cakes serve as symbols of celebration and inevitability, highlighting her growing awareness of aging as both a natural and inevitable process.
This painting invites viewers to consider their own relationship with societal expectations, aging, and the balance between celebrating life and resisting external pressures.
Oil and mixed media on canvas
40″ x 24″
The Full Story Doesn’t Exist: Structural Omission in Contemporary Realism
Deborah Scott’s paintings begin with real conversations—personal narratives offered in moments of trust. But the works resist the illusion of full understanding. Rather than completing the story, each piece reveals its limits: what can be seen, and what cannot.
Rendered with classical precision and intentionally interrupted, these images reflect Scott’s framework of Structural Omission—a practice that refuses closure and challenges the viewer’s desire for resolution. The absences aren’t decorative; they’re structural. What’s missing was never meant to be filled in.
In an era of instant answers and polished certainty, Scott’s realism holds space for complexity, fracture, and the unknown.