Freudian Early Morning

We wake to the scream of planes directly overhead as they descend towards Sydney airport. I painted the silhouette of a plane inside our bedroom giving it a 'vibrating' texture, to convey the feeling of this early morning invasion. The sound of the engine seems to emerge from the throat of the fireplace, its opening mirrored by my husband's yawn. The window continues to rattle between flights. I pour the tea.

The space is extended beyond the edges of the painting by the movement of the cat, captured in an imaginary time frame. Her head emerges round the doorway on the right, before she crosses the room, to paw the bed and sniff the milk carton on her way. Her tail is seen on the left as she disappears outside the window beyond the edge of the picture. The eye is brought back into the scene by the inward movement of the curtain caught on a breeze.

Freudian sex symbols are interpreted in shapes such as the early morning erection, teapot spout, nose and cockpit of the plane, while the labia of the fireplace, the chests of drawers, and the slippers evoke female forms. The viewer is invited to find others!

- Susan Dorothea White