ANONYMOUS WOMEN 

"Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise"

11/10 -12/12, 2025

Indiana State University, Turman Gallery,

649 Chestnut Street, Terre Haute, Indiana

Chicago-based photographer Patty Carroll has been creating conceptually rich imagery since the 1970s, delving into the layered themes of femininity, identity, and domestic life. In her compelling exhibition Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise, Carroll pulls back the curtain on the theatrical, often absurd world of the “housewife”—a figure both iconic and invisible. While the traditional mold of this role has shifted in the modern era, its legacy remains tightly woven into the fabric of contemporary culture.

Each of Carroll’s meticulously staged, life-size scenes unfolds in hyper-stylized domestic settings such as kitchens, living rooms, and powder rooms. Each is staged with a lone mannequin as its focal point, ensnared in moments of chaos, collapse, or surrender. The lines between woman and wallpaper dissolve as saturated, monochromatic color schemes engulf the figure, blurring her into the background. This fusion of subject and setting becomes a powerful metaphor for the suffocating weight of domestic expectations and the quiet erasure of identity within the home.

Carroll’s clever sense of humor and flair for the surreal turn the mundane into the absurd, using visual satire to soften the sting of deeper truths. Her work invites us to laugh, cringe, and ultimately reflect on how the ideal of the “housewife” continues to evolve and persist in unexpected ways. Through bold visuals and biting wit, Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise offers both a critique and a deeply empathetic look at the lives lived behind closed doors.

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