... also mystified as to the meaning of the objects that she depicts, claiming 'I know that these things must be memories, but they do not have the quality of memories...they arrive detached from any context; they are simply there.' Such self-incomprehension suggests that her art is primarily the cathartic expression of repressed emotions and memories that her conscious, rational self can in no way account for or explain. Even as a child, Elaine is marked by a keen appreciation for the sensory characteristics of her surroundings, for example recalling vividly and in minute detail the grotesque nature of Mrs Smeath's physical appearance, from her 'sprinkling of hairs around the corners of the mouth' to her 'single breast that goes all the way across her front and continues down until it joins her waist.' However, such sensory vision is paradoxically linked with a determination to remain psychologically blind. Unable to confront ...

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