Brito utilizes camp archetypes to tell a grotesque story of sinister, blind determination. Examining the gruesome, often abusive language used in many European fables allowed her to explore a more abject tone in these paintings. In particular, Brito looked toward films of stage productions like The Red Shoes (1948), other fairytale adaptations like Donkey Skin (1970) starring Catherine Deneuve, as well as opera and ballet costuming and set design from Giselle and The Magic Flute. For the gloves themselves, Brito explored the costume archives of the V&A Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art. 
 

The story creates a dramaturgical contrast between the selflessness of motherhood, and unbridled personal ambition. For Brito, this dichotomy is one she thinks about regularly. In contrast to an image of the working mother whose career is sacrificed in the process of child-rearing, Brito presents a dynamic where complicated and opposing desires form the basis of a nuanced, imperfect motherhood. A melodramatic staging of this scenario, the paintings reflect a nightmare that is intentionally unhinged and absurd––a key element of the story is the fact that the protagonist doesn’t think twice about skinning the lamb. And her ‘child’ pays the ultimate price for her aspirational lust.

Jeanine Brito (b. 1993, Germany) is a painter living and working in Toronto, Canada. Her work explores themes of memory and desire, imagined in a theatrical, surrealist context. Self-taught, her previous experience as a graphic designer informs her approach to colour and composition, where smooth, saturated surfaces meet photographic crops. Recent exhibitions include The Invitation: A Fairytale by Jeanine Brito, Nicodim Upstairs, Los Angeles (forthcoming) (2023, solo); DISEMBODIED, curated by Ben Lee Ritchie Handler, Nicodim, New York (2023); So Softly and Sweetly, La Causa Galeria, Madrid (2022, solo); You Me Me You curated by Rachel Keller, Nicodim, Los Angeles (2022); and New Mythologies II, Huxley Parlour, London (2022).