Alyssa Monks paints women through the distorted lens of water, and her newest round of work puts them in the steamy cage of the shower, where their breasts and bellies brush up against foggy glass doors and they become entangled in shower curtains. Often seen from behind a viscous film of plastic, these women look part tortured and part rapturous. Is the shower a cell or a refuge? It’s unclear, but either way, what Monks is doing to these water-women feels more like embalming than painting.
