Patty Carroll’s Satirical ‘Anonymous Woman’ Is Overwhelmed by Her Own Domestic Perfectionism

in Colossus by Kate Mothes

The irony of the mannequin as “everywoman” is that the inanimate form doesn’t have much in common with real women at all. But for photographer Patty Carroll, that’s the point. “The mannequin is the ‘ideal woman’ who does not age, have wrinkles, fat, or any other human quality,” the Chicago-based artist says.

In her ongoing Anonymous Woman series (previously), Carroll captures scenes of domestic dismay and disaster, like a woman hiding from a bug infestation in the bedroom or falling from her office chair, still gripping a phone. “(The mannequin) stands in for all of us who are obsessed with our homes, whether it is the décor or activities inside that make us ‘homemakers,’” the artist says. And the domestic scenes in which they sprawl are meticulously crafted with the help of her assistant Andie Meadows. FOR MORE