Charlotte Healey

Why the Long Table?

In Why the Long Table? we are welcomed to an empty segment of a table. On our side slumps the betrayer, already awash with regret for things that haven’t yet come to fruition. Ignored and wriggling against their stock-ish prison, a small red-handed figure attempts to swing and kick and break free. At the other end, a harlequined fowl calls for service in a way that could be aggressive or unthinking. These people congregate, shout, gesture out, and are generally preoccupied. Among them, KILROY peeks out. They watch the shots lined up in front of them, taking side glances towards the betrayer. They inhabit the picture as an internal observer. Even within the work, there is judgment, just as there exists self-judgment. The entirety of the scene nestles on the edge of a barbed quatrefoil. This framing device is navigated by the figures and setting, obscuring whether it is decorative or an architectural element of the actual space.