Nicole Eisenman is an American painter and sculptor. She taught at Bard College and has been awarded numerous prizes and fellowships. She was also awarded a solo show at the New Museum. Made clear by the painting It is so among others, Eisenman’s art doesn’t show a traditional perspective. As a lesbian, Eisenman explores the intimacy, vulnerability, and complexity of queer relationships. Her other pieces explore death, family, faith, love, and solitude.

She explains that she draws from her personal life–friends, family, lovers–to inform her art. I think the most fascinating thing is the diversity of her hand. Figures on one canvas appear so differently from each other. Seriously, look at the below painting. Who is related to who?? What happened to the forlorn, traumatized dudes in the front?? Are they eating boobs??

It’s mesmerizing. I love the perspectives of her compositions too. We’re somehow taking part in the action. We are in the room or at the table, but sometimes it feels we’re not invited. There are expressions of disgust that make you almost uneasy. As is the case with It is so, watching a woman go down on another in the familiar comfort of their bedroom feels like an invasion of privacy. It doesn’t appear staged like porn is, it feels real. We don’t know the relationship of the two figures so I think there’s a degree of extrapolation and your interpretation likely says something about you.

The books of someone well-read stacked on the modest red plastic crate tell you more about Eisenman than anything else I think. But are these books an homage to the women she portrays? A summation of their personalities or their favorite reads? The Iliad, Emily Dickinson, Dürer, Picasso. An ode to her inspirations? Is this really a self-portrait? A fantasy? It’s not clear, but it doesn’t have to be.

I love the two budding flowers and repeated phrase hung in mustard yellow on the wall as if to remind. It’s so romantic. There’s such a gentle intimacy about the painting. The peacefulness of the napping cat, the clasped hands, even the soft gradients of Eisenman’s brush make it feel safe. It is so normalizes and celebrates lesbianism without making it a full-blown spectacle. It’s personal. Because they’re people. Engaging in something natural. For their own pleasure. Not anyone else’s.