A frenetic figure paints itself with desperation inside a grungy studio space. With a wilting houseplant, broken glass window, and creeping cockroach, emblems of hopelessness and anguish appear throughout the composition. While this artwork seems to record universal representations of anxiety, the inspiration came from a specific experience. In 1972, Brenda Goodman’s mother, with whom she spoke daily, died after a six-month battle with lung cancer. Overwhelmed with emotion, the artist felt that she could not paint and instead turned to sculpture. Using strips of canvas and her mother’s black leather gloves, Goodman created a multi-armed sculpture to channel and store her grief. That enigmatic sculpture became the model for this painting, which Goodman animates into a frenzied self-portrait. (Leila Grothe, How Do We Know The World: Rotation 5, December 2023 - June 2024)