Consumption of Innocence
An exploration of caregiving, responsibility, and the fragile boundary between innocence and maturity
A young woman stands in a shadowy forest clutching a Target bag filled with medications for her ailing grandfather. Her red hood and the distressed environment evoke a modern-day fable, highlighting the emotional tension between innocence and responsibility.
In Consumption of Innocence, a young woman wearing a vivid red coat stands in a dense forest, clutching a Target bag filled with medications for her sick grandfather. The red hood immediately draws the eye, echoing imagery from classic tales like Little Red Riding Hood but recast into a modern narrative of caregiving.
The Target bag, a contemporary and practical object, contrasts sharply with the forest’s dark, shadowy textures, symbolizing the intersection of mundane tasks and deeper emotional struggles. The forest itself, painted with distressed textures and disruptions, creates an uneasy atmosphere that mirrors the girl’s internal fear and uncertainty about her loved one’s future.
The disrupted realism blurs the boundary between innocence and maturity, emphasizing the weight of responsibility on the shoulders of the young. The viewer is invited to reflect on how universal archetypes, such as the caregiver or protector, resonate in today’s world.
This painting is both personal and universal, speaking to the quiet resilience required to care for those we love amidst uncertainty and change.
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.
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