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Weems, Untitled
Key points
- Carrie Mae Weems has carefully staged the photographs in this series to suggest moments of everyday life, but also uses symbolism, lighting and props to create deeper levels of meaning.
- Weems suggests that the familiar, unremarkable domestic kitchen is actually important as an epicenter of family life and human drama.
- Unlike in so much art through history, the everyday lived experience of a woman, as opposed to a man, is central here.
Go deeper
Find out more about this work on Carrie Mae Weems’s website
See Weems’s entire series on the National Gallery of Art’s website
Listen to Weems discuss this series in a 2018 lecture at the National Gallery of Art
Watch Weems discuss this series in an art21 video
Read how Weems has influenced other artists’ work
More to think about
Visit Carrie Mae Weems’ website to see all of the photographs in The Kitchen Table Series. Choose one and discuss the story the image suggests to you. Compare it to Untitled (Woman Feeding Bird) considering some of these questions: How does Weems use the same setting to create different moods and emotions? How does Weems use formal elements (light/dark contrasts, shapes, lines, composition) in her photograph to engage the viewer and enhance its meaning? What broader themes about women, family, and contemporary society can be found in both of these photographs?
