
<p>In this series of photographs, Eileen Quinlan reflected on motherhood. Snatching brief moments in between the demands of maternity, she sequestered herself in the shower and used this small space for contemplation. Pressing her body and that of a friend against the glass, Quinlan made nude photographs with obsolete black-and-white Polaroid film. The images blur and distort their subjects because Quinlan squeezed and manipulated the Polaroid’s developing fluid. The results conflate the surfaces of the body, the glass door, and the photographic material in a complex layering that frustrates our gaze.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 2014
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions
- 76.2 × 61 cm (30 × 24 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Eileen Quinlan
Artist

Photography
Eileen Quinlan is a self-described still-life photographer who shoots with medium format and large format cameras. An art critic for Art in America likened her style to that of Moholy-Nagy and James Welling.
Full artist profile →More
More by Eileen Quinlan
Venus Mount
2020 · UV prints (3)
Let Down
2016 · Gelatin silver print
Origins
2016 · Gelatin silver print
Enduring Frustration
2015 · Gelatin silver print
Super Moon
2014 · Gelatin silver print
Broken Figure
2014 · Gelatin silver print
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Eileen Quinlan
- Year
- 2014
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions
- 76.2 × 61 cm (30 × 24 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-2014-143770
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified





