Artworks / Miss Havisham I

Miss Havisham (Great Expectations)

"...I saw that everything within my view which ought to be white, had been white long ago and had lost its lustre, and was faded and yellow...the frillings and trimmings on her bridal dress,looking like earthy paper." Excerpt from 'Great Expectations', Charles Dickens

Even Dreams Decay - the haunting character of Miss Havisham in 'Great Expectations’ by Chas. Dickens. The novel is peppered with references to Havisham's yellowing and decaying wedding gown. The notion of the dress constantly being worn - and worn down - but never worn at the occasion it was purchased for is a powerful motif.

The painting - 'Miss Havisham I' - suggests wedding lace hanging like a rotten veil (barrier) between reality and fantasy.The use of particular off white/yellow hues and fingered application of the paint, hopefully, suggests frantic scrabbling against collapse and disintegration.