Ayu, 2017, Acrylic on Canvas, 35.5cm x 35.5cm
Hard to Get, 2017, Acrylic on Canvas, 35.5cm x 35.5cm
Mysterious Being, 2017, Acrylic on Canvas, 35.5cm x 35.5cm
Pantau II, 2017, Acrylic on Canvas, 35.5cm x 35.5cm
Pantau I, 2017, Acrylic on Canvas, 35.5cm x 35.5cm
Realizing Perfection, 2017, Acrylic on Canvas, 91cm x 46cm
The Doormar and The Goddess, 2017, Oil on Jute, 152cm x 152cm
The Doormat and The Goddess
“There are only two types of women, goddesses and doormats.” - Pablo Picasso
This painting explores the duality embodied in Picasso’s words, the two archetypes of women as perceived through societal lenses. Drawing inspiration from Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and Picasso’s Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, the work reinterprets these classical influences to tell a contemporary story about self worth and identity.
At the heart of the composition is the girl wearing the necklace, the so called Goddess. Her expression hovers between happiness and confusion, symbolizing the modern woman’s quiet struggle with insecurity. She represents the desire to be admired, to seek validation through beauty, luxury, and external praise. The pearl she wears becomes a metaphor for dependency, a fragile, shining emblem of material possession mistaken for inner value.
Beside her stands another figure, the Doormat. Though her expression seems calm, it conceals longing. She yearns for the same recognition society gives to the Goddess, unaware that both roles are bound by expectation and illusion.
The Doormat and The Goddess questions the inherited dichotomy of how women are seen and how they see themselves. It is not merely a portrait of two women, but a reflection of every woman’s negotiation between pride and humility, confidence and doubt and the ongoing search to define her worth on her own terms.