In Family Life, Else deftly portrays the reality of families, where what’s going on inside can be very different than what’s shown on the outside. Although the bright, cheerful colors and happy, loving poses draw the viewer closer, they contrast starkly with the skeletal forms. On closer inspection, the artist again reminds us of life’s ambiguities with the quotes and phrases that represent family “skeletons in the closet”. My favorite quote (which you can see wrapping around the skull of the yellow skeleton) is from Bill Watterson, writer of the comic Calvin and Hobbes: “People who get nostalgic about childhood were obviously never children.”

Technique: Collage and quilted cloth, hand and machine stitched, machine quilted
Culture: American
Geographic Location: North America
Credit Line: Gift of the Artist