Sophia Titterton | Paintings

An exploration of the darker side of kitsch paired with loss of innocence

​

When I was 10, I went to Disneyland, and I hated it. My uncle looked at me and asked, "Sophia, if you hate the happiest place on earth, when will you ever be happy?" Don't get me wrong; I wanted to like amusement parks. People always looked like they were having so much fun. Sort of. Every parent is stressed out, spending money they don't have so their children can feel nauseous from eating too much funnel cake before going on the twirl-a-whirl. 

Amusements parks are kitsch. They are the denial of hardship, the refusal to acknowledge reality. We all maintain false fantasies about our personal lives and society at large. Today’s children are introduced to violence, fear, and uncertainty at increasingly young ages, yet we still identify babies as the purest symbol of innocence. I want to highlight the rejection of real life in my paintings. By pairing the preconceived innocence of a child with dark, unexpected and jarring images, I want to magnify the child’s loss of innocence. The gaudy, intense colors and surrealist design lull us into the false comfort of a kitsch image as the subject reminds us of the harsh reality of life.

I want to question our tendency to seek empty happiness and deny the loss of innocence. Why do we feel the need to disguise the darker side of reality? Why do we ignore the tragedies of reality? Why do we choose to live in a fantasy of niceties?