Red Rope, Pedestal, and Power
A stark exploration of identity, restriction, and untapped potential.
This painting examines the silencing and restraints imposed by systemic forces, symbolized through a bound figure on a pedestal beside a disconnected power outlet.
Red Rope, Pedestal, and Power depicts a woman bound and gagged with red rope, standing isolated on a pedestal. The red rope represents the silencing and constraints of misogyny, while the pedestal reflects the isolating trap of societal expectations disguised as reverence.
Beside her, a disconnected power outlet symbolizes her unrealized potential, held back by systemic forces. The distress in the painting intentionally disrupts its realism, emphasizing the tension between vulnerability and resistance. Inspired by the framework of Johari’s Window, this piece highlights the hidden or inaccessible parts of identity, challenging viewers to confront the structures that silence women.
Through its stark imagery, this painting invites reflection on power, identity, and the courage it takes to resist oppression.
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.