Daisy Patton

@daisypatton.bsky.social

1164 Followers 522 Following

Exploring memory and living archives, the (disabled) body, story-carrying, and social/reproductive histories. đź“ŤWestern MA She/her https://linktr.ee/daisy_patton

A smaller black bear perusing the black raspberries in our yard
A lifesize painting of two grooms shaking hands and a groomsman standing behind and between them peeking over. They all have bright pinks and purples washed over them, the groom on the left with a bright orange pinstriped suit and the groom on the right wearing a pink flatly painted suit. The painting is a painted over photo in oil paint, part of the Forgetting is so long series. The men are standing outside on on a sidewalk in front of some houses. The painting is frame in a peach, with an antique Eastlake wood salvage pediment. A man wearing a green baseball cap and beard stands next to the painting wearing jeans and a white graphic t-shirt.
Screenshot from the identification app Seek identifying bur clover. It has a photo with little yellow flowers and the following text: Bur Clover Medicago polymorpha You observed it on May 24, 2026 ABOUT Medicago polymorpha is a plant species of the genus Medicago. It is native to the Mediterranean basin but is found throughout the world. It forms a symbiotic relationship with the bacterium Sinorhizobium medicae, which is capable of nitrogen fixation. Common names include
A brown and white guinea pig smiling inside a towel in a living room. He's watching tv with me
A video panning over part of a painting of a family in a meadow. It is a painted over photo, the two daughters are washed in cerulean blue and green, the two women are washed in green and dark blue (middle woman) and cerulean for right, who is also wearing a green dress with a geometric pattern over that is from a Persian miniature. The figures have elaborate floral and bird patterning emerge and encircle them, and the sky behind them is a bright peach. The painting is frame with floral upholstery fabric that is a dull blue and another that is white, and at the top of the painting is lined with fabric flowers that are white, bright magenta, light pink, and light yellow.
There is no other way to put this: essentially everything about Popular Consciousness Kirk is bullshit. Kirk, as received through mass culture memory and reflected in its productive imaginary (and subsequent franchise output, including the reboot movies), has little or no basis in Shatner’s performance and the television show as aired. Macho, brash Kirk is a mass hallucination.
Two life-size paintings on a white wall in my studio. On the left is a painted over photo on canvas of two Iranian women seated in front of a floral curtain. There is a potted flower plant to the left, and both women are washed in bright magenta and lavender. A multicolored floral pattern emerges from their hands and encircle them. The painting is framed with floral fabric, fabric flowers and tassel at the bottom. At the top center is a pane of mirror glass, all known as aneyeh kari. On the right is a painted over photo on canvas of two Indian men seated on a swing whose ropes are covered in flowers. The seat has a patterned blanket, and the floor is patterned as well. The men both have color washes on their hands and faces, and each have different floral patterns encircling them. The painting is framed with two different fabrics, one geometric and used to create "curtains" and the other a floral one. Brown tassel fringe lines the bottom of each curtain and the bottom of the painting, and two individual large tassels are in each upper corner.
In 2003, the mighty Florida orange industry produced 242 million boxes of fruit, with 90 pounds of oranges per box, most of which went on to become orange juice. Now, not even 25 years later, the United States Department of Agriculture was forecasting a pitiful 12 million boxes of oranges, the least in more than 100 years, the worst year since last. A decline of more than 95 percent.
None of this erases the underlying problem. It names it. The precarious archive is not an anomaly. It is a condition of contemporary artistic life. It asks artists to imagine a future audience while living in a present that offers very little security. To name this is not to confess failure. It is to refuse the lie that artists are solely responsible for their own erasure. The archive is not just a personal burden. It is a cultural infrastructure. If we care about artists’ legacies, we have to care about the conditions under which those legacies are allowed to survive, long before the market decides they matter.
A woman washed in hot pink rests her head in her hand with flowers on her hand and on top of her head, with a pink background and wearing a green kimono
Small portrait of a woman with a fucsia purple wash over her face wearing warm dark purple and a light lavender pink background. Over her face and body is a silver ornate pattern
A sign for an infusion center inside the oncology building in a hospital with a small stand that says masks optional
Video of a dusk evening waterfall with sound
A close up of a pastry dish from Iran called baghlava cake, squares of cake with pistachios sprinkled on top
A close up of ramekins on a granite countertop with fereni (rosewater rice pudding, an Iranian dessert)
A mixed media painting with a red background with text that says Abolish Patriarchy Abolish Capitalism Abolish White Supremacy Abolish ICE Abolish Settler Colonialism Abolish Monarchies Abolish Religions Abolish Caste Abolish Xenophobia and more with a painted blue female figure holding a drill with flowers coming out of it and a pencil in her other hand with many faces
Screenshot of an email donation to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts for $100
A last detail showing more of the black velvet framing the painting, as well as the drooping portion of the fabric that has white tassels at the end. "Untitled (Who is not better than him?)"* translated from Arabic, 91"x74"x3", oil on archival print mounted to canvas with fabric, embroidery, tassels, fabric flowers with buttons, photo sourced from Cairo, Egypt
Detail of the painting showing the body of the woman on the left, as well as a closer view of the objects on the table (gun, medals), as well as the fabric flowers on the velvet that frames the painting. "Untitled (Who is not better than him?)"* translated from Arabic, 91"x74"x3", oil on archival print mounted to canvas with fabric, embroidery, tassels, fabric flowers with buttons, photo sourced from Cairo, Egypt
Detail showing the woman on the right, and the floral pattern emerging from the man that moves through the painting in a heart shape. The flowers themselves are heart-shaped. The woman is washed in a purple magenta, her outfit pink mourning dress. "Untitled (Who is not better than him?)"* translated from Arabic, 91"x74"x3", oil on archival print mounted to canvas with fabric, embroidery, tassels, fabric flowers with buttons, photo sourced from Cairo, Egypt
A lifesize painting over photo on canvas of two women on either side of a large framed photograph of a man. The man is washed in hot pink, and the two women look up to him, wearing mourning clothes. The background is painted silver, and the framed photo rests on a table with a turquoise tablecloth that holds small boxes containing medals, as well as a gun. The painting is framed with black velvet with floral patterning, and white flowers are stitched under the curve at the bottom of the painting. White tassels are attached at the bottom points on the right and left. "Untitled (Who is not better than him?)"* translated from Arabic, 91"x74"x3", oil on archival print mounted to canvas with fabric, embroidery, tassels, fabric flowers with buttons, photo sourced from Cairo, Egypt
By now, the COVID-19 pandemic should have shown us that we’re supposed to rise to the occasion by meeting needs, not fall in line behind fascist incursions. The same forces that encouraged us to sacrifice the disabled, poor, and unhoused to a distorted idea of “natural selection” now instruct us to ignore the genocide of Palestinians. The same forces that pushed conspiratorial misinformation about public health and vaccination want us to give up on practicing collectivity. It’s connected because if we cannot be relentless in our determination to interrupt what’s unfolding before us, then we risk it becoming a disturbing norm.
There's a part of me that will never forgive the tech industry for what they've taken from me and what they've chosen to do with it. In the early days as the dawning horror set in, I cried about this almost every day. I wondered if I should quit making art. I contemplated suicide. I did nothing to these people, but every day I have to see them gleefully cheer online about the anticipated death of my chosen profession. I had no idea we artists were so hated—I still don't know why. What did my silly little cat drawings do to earn so much contempt? That part is probably one of the hardest consequences of AI to come to terms with. It didn't just try to take my job (or succeed in making my job worse) it exposed a whole lot of people who hate me and everything I am for reasons I can't fathom. They want to exploit me and see me eradicated at the same time.
A white femme looking person stands in front of a painting, wearing colorful puffball earrings, a dark green dress with paisley patterning, looking at the camera.
Here, houses are more than walls and roofs. They hold footsteps, smells, echoes of conversations. They keep the map of your life. When too many are gone, the city itself begins to forget. Streets lose their shapes, people lose their usual routes and routines, the landmarks that once oriented them—the corner shop, the mosque, the old tree at the end of the street. The mind’s map slowly disappears. And when a city forgets, the people lose more than shelter—they lose themselves, the proof of their existence and belonging.
A full to the brim cuisinart with pesto on a countertop
"Untitled (Three Women with Dandelion and Wild Rose Vines)," 44”x49.25”, oil on archival print mounted to panel with found mirror frame, 2024, photo from Iran sourced from New York City, NY A painted over photograph of three women posing together. One woman, with an orange wash over her face wearing green, is seated, while two women on either shoulder lean over her. The left woman wears a dark blue dress, her arm painted lavender with a dandelion patterning over it, and more emerge from her lavender hand resting on her friend. On the right is a woman washed in pink wearing a turquoise dress with a wild rose vine emerging from her hand. The background is a flat brick red, and the painting is framed in a periwinkle and white painted old mirror frame with patterning that is similar to ornate Persian miniature paintings.
Lifesize oil painting of a painted over photograph of two younger women, posing next to a green tree that is shaped in a V. One woman is seated in the center, and the other stands behind her wearing a hat. Both have a color wash over their faces and hands, blending from pink to orangey red. The grass is textured paint with pinks, magentas, and yellows, and a floral pattern emerges from the seated woman.
Two paintings on canvas are on a wall. On the left is a woman holding her 3 year old child while holding a framed portrait of a woman. The colors are vibrant, with the figures washed in bright magenta and purples, as is the photo person. Floral patterns emerge from both Michelle the mother and her daughter. On the right is a painting of a man holding a framed photo of a man with text next to him that is a tribute. Behind the man is a bookcase with more photos. He is washed in purple, and his father in the photo is washed in a reddish violet. Floral pattern emerges from the man's hand and frames the painting.
I am going to say that again: the United States’ main export is ruins. We want to extract resources for our empire, whether that’s oil or minerals, we’ll destabilize whole swaths of the world to get our way. Look to Latin America and CIA interventions in supporting dictators who disappeared and murdered their citizens (a current aspiration of this current admin), look at SWANA. We do not bring freedom—we bring death. I do not say this lightly, but rather with the perspective of history and a desire for a better future that does not perpetuate such horrors. I want better for all of us. Few of us benefit from these colonial wars, with so much wealth is siphoned to the top and underclasses and the same less-than-human treatments to anyone not white and male.
"Untitled (Five Color Fade Women with Bellflowers)," 48”x61.5”, oil on archival print mounted to panel with frame and found wooden salvage pediment, 2023, photo from Iran sourced in New York, NY A painted over photograph portrait of five women posing together, with two seated and the other three standing behind them, leaning on them. All women have color washes of pink and magenta, dressed in colorful and patterned clothes. An orange floral vine emerges from left and right that frame the piece, with the background being a strong vibrant blue. The painting is framed with a dark navy blue and has patterning painted on it, with a wood salvage pediment on top painted with navy, white, peach, and lime green.
"Untitled (Color Fade Woman with Birdsfoot Violets)," 39.25"x22", photo sourced from Cairo, Egypt The painting is a life-size portrait of a woman cupping her face with her hands, washed in colors of lavender, pink and red. The painted over photograph shows the woman looking directly at the viewer with a soft, contemplative expression. From her hands that encircle over her head are a floral pattern of Birdsfoot violets. The background is dark navy with mauve dots, and the painting itself is framed in a found mirror frame painted chartreuse with white and blue details (including the same Birdsfoot violets pattern painted on the top of the frame).
A portrait painting of a woman facing forwards and looking to her left/audience right. The painting is a painted over photograph—the photo underneath is from the 1930s-40s, probably an old photo booth image. Half of her face is washed with a vibrant reddish purple. Her outfit is aqua blue pinstripes with a yellow collar, and vines of reddish purple emerge from her head and encircle her with coral roses. The background is a pink wall with yellow framed window with a blue curtain. The painting is framed with a found antique mirror frame that has been painted a bright yellow green with a floral pattern of blue vines and yellow flowers.
View from my studio of two lifesize paintings in progress. On the left is a Victorian woman holding a photo of a baby, presumably hers that has passed away. The painting is on top of a photo, and the woman wears a dark burnt sienna dress, standing next to a purple and red curtained stand. Both the wood of the stand and the chair behind her is orange, and the floor is a patterned dark blue and purple, with the background being a dark peach. On the right is a woman standing behind an old and large radio, holding a photograph of presumably her son, who is wearing a sailor uniform. To the right is a dark hallway and a plant on the ground, and in the very front is a carpet. In front of both paintings is a painting bench and an air filter to the left.
The artist, a short white person with dark brown hair, is wearing a olive green t shirt and dark blue shorts standing on top of a paint bucket while painting a lifesize painting. The painting is a photograph substrate of a funerary floral arrangement with the deceased couple's photograph in the center.
A hand holds a black and white book whose cover says In Memory Remembering as a creative act, edited by Laura Allred Hurtado, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art. Behind the hand and book is a painting of a painted over portrait of a woman washed in lavender with little dots that look like stars all over her. She rests her head in her hands, and her elbows are propped onto a black and yellow pillow. The background is dark blue purple, and from her hands energy a floral pattern of coral vines and turquoise blue star flowers.
A brief span view of two lifesize paintings in progress on the wall, painted over photos. On the left is a younger woman from the late 19th century holding a photo of her baby upside down while posing next to a floral screen. On the right is an older woman standing next to an old radio dresser holding a framed photo of a young sailor, presumably her son.
Years of work went into “Put Me Back Like They Found Me,” a series on forced sterilization in the US and Puerto Rico. It’s a series that I think of often, and while eugenics never left this country, its stark rise during the still on-going pandemic—the declaration that only the strong should survive, that “the vulnerable will fall by the wayside” (Anthony Fauci)—that same twin hells of eugenics and fascism that happened post-1918 is very much present. As one of the vulnerable that is seen as disposable, it’s been incredibly hard though necessary to work on these series on reproductive justice, and just heartbreaking to see how easily our society has lost so many civil rights in the name of white supremacy and patriarchy. The past is not present indeed, and we have every opportunity to set things right and fight back against the dismantling of our collective rights and realize our fates are bound together, that harms against one are harms against all.
Detail of "Untitled (Wedding Couple in Car with Anjou Rose Vines)," showing the top left of the painting and close up of the flowers stitched on, as well as the wedding couple with a closer view of their faces.
A lifesize painting of a painted over photograph of two white men inside a car. One is dressed in a bridal outfit (on the right), color washed in aqua with gold earrings. On the right the man is half washed in a magenta red, and both are smiling happily. The car is a reddish purple with a yellow ribbon attached, and coming from the bride is an Anjou rose floral pattern that circles downward. The painting is framed with fabric that is white with green and blue floral patterning and birds, and stitched on top and the top sides are many fabric flowers that are white, yellow, and coral. More flowers dangle from each side in a small bunching, and at the bottom, there is a line of flowers, mostly yellow with a few white, that dangle from the piece, almost like the traditional tied objects to the wedding car driving away.
The meme of Ben Affleck looking like his soul has left his body as he smokes outside. On top is cut out white box with black text that says "During COVID" "During the pandemic"
Detail of "Untitled (Wedding Portrait with Children and Rug and Orange Vines with Multicolored Flowers)," showing a bit of the left window panel of the framing fabric with a bouquet, and the painting of the bride with her pink bouquet. The orange vine comes from her hands and heads left, coming off the "frame" of the painting and returning to come back towards her head.
Large, lifesize painting of a painted over photo of a wedding portrait with the bride, groom, and their children. I interpret the scene as the bride and her two daughters, dressed in green on the left side, with the groom whose daughters are dressed in bright coral on the right. The two oldest daughters are laying down in front, while the youngest are holding onto their parents (on the left, she holds her mother's veil). The girls are on a draped elaborate Persian rug. The bride is dressed in bright yellow with a bright dark pink wash over her face, shared her daughters' hands. The groom stands to the right with a purple wash on his hands, and that same wash shared with his daughters though their faces and hands are washed in purple. They all stand inside with brick red wood paneling to either side of them. The painting is framed with fabric, tassels, and flowers. At the top sides are large panels of the floral fabric that mimics the bouquet the bride holds, and at the bottom of that panel is a reddish orange tassel trim. The top of the framing is that fabric molded and crunched down with a geometric dark grey and white pattern fabric. Under the window panels is the remaining fabric, black with florals and the window panel fabric, interspersed with the same tassel trim and white flowers. The painting is also framed with orange embroidery, a nod to the bright orange floral vines that emerge from the bride and groom's hands and encircle the painting and their daughters.
A detail of "Untitled (Purple Bride in Green with Yellow Bouquet)," showing a side view of the frame and its dimensional qualities (small geometric shapes painted in white, gold, dark green, and white), as well as close up of the bride's head and the floral vines framing above her.
A lifesize portrait of a bride holding a yellow flower bouquet, leaning against an object. This painted over photo of the bride has floral vines emerging from her hands, and she is dressed in a green dress with a veil that has metallic sheen to it. Her face is washed with bright purple and magenta, and the painting is framed with an antique Eastlake mirror frame that is also painted green with gold, lighter Kelly green, and white details. This painting is part of "Before These Witnesses" at the Harold J. Miossi gallery, Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo through March 14
Detail of “Untitled (Pink Family with Light Aqua Flowers)," 80"x68", showing one of the matriarchs of the family seated, dressed in yellow, with one woman leaning on her chair dress in light pink on the left, an adolescent girl on the far right and another woman standing behind. A black vine with aqua flowers flow in front of the seated woman, whose face is partially washed with a bright pink on the left side of her face.
Install view of In Memory at Utah MOCA, showing a William Kentridge video piece project on the left, Dalila Sanabria installation/sculpture on the right, and Cara Despain's lit sculpture piece in the center wall.
A lifesize painting of a painted over photograph of four people, all family. An adolescent girl with a bright pink wash over half her face and hand stands on the right wearing a dress flatly painted in a mauve color with pink patterning. To the left of the girl stands an older woman with a purple pink color wash on her face wearing a flat green dress, her hand visible on the girl's shoulder. In the center is a woman seated in a teal chair with light brown cushion; the woman is dressed in yellow, her hands and part of her face washed in the same bright pink as the girl. Lastly, another woman is half seated leaning on the chair, her hand behind the woman in yellow holding onto the chair. She wears a light pink dress with green patterning, and she has a purple pink color wash on her face and hands. The ground is a flat Barbie pink, and the background is purple with vertical grey lines and dots. From the leaning woman and adolescent girl emerges a black vine with aqua flowers that encircles the other figures in the painting.
Detail of "Untitled (Valentine Photo Service Dre. 7541)," 98.5”x70”, oil on archival print mounted to panel with frame and wood salvage pediment, photo sourced from Valparaiso, IN This shows the lower part of the bride's dress, the lilac vine (the flower itself is a light lime green with white flower details and green dots, the vine is magenta with lighter pink for the interior of the leaves and little dots around each leaf). You can also see the chairs, some of the furniture painted as a blocked abstract shape.
Detail of "Untitled (Valentine Photo Service Dre. 7541)," 98.5”x70”, oil on archival print mounted to panel with frame and wood salvage pediment, photo sourced from Valparaiso, IN This shows a closeup of the pediment, with a decorative lavender leaves and an interior light green flower shape, the pediment is painted dark turquoise. The closeup also shows in the painting the faces of the bride and groom smiling, the dark reddish magenta curtains with circle patterning, the plant, lamp, and some of the lilac patterning.
A lifesize painting of a painted over photograph of a Black bride and groom inside a room. The bride, washed in shades of green, is seated holding a bouquet, while her soon-to-be husband stands behind her and the chair, one hand touching her, the other leaning on the chair. His face and hands are washed in a bright magenta, and he wears a golden yellow suit. Behind them is a wallpapered wall with a tiny leaf pattern and two windows with blinds. To the side is another chair and furniture with a plant on top and a standing lamp. Underneath her feet is a patterned rug and a dark green floor. Patterned magenta lilac floral vines emerge from the groom's hands and frame them inside the painting. The painting itself is framed with a dark turquoise frame with raised flower pattern in shades of green and purple, and a pediment rests on top of the painting that completes the framing
Detail of "Untitled (Wedding Party in Parlor Celebration with White Vines and Green Flowers)," showing the far left wedding guests, including two in suits, one seated at the table, and two women behind them. They're all dressed with patterns on their clothing and/or bright colors, and they look on as they pose for this moment at the viewer.
Detail of "Untitled (Wedding Party in Parlor Celebration with White Vines and Green Flowers)," showing the far right of the painting's wedding guests, as well as the two fabrics framing the painting (a floral burlap and white with geometric patterns), flowers stitched into the sides, and the pink fringe lining the bottom of the painting.
A lifesize painted over photo framed with fabric, embroidery, stitched on fabric flowers, and fringe. The subject is a wedding held inside a large parlor inside—late 19th/very early 20th century, of a queer wedding, possibly lesbian. The wedding party are seated at a table, which has plates and other items abstracted, a flower vase, and streamers coming from the ceiling to the table. The wallpaper behind them has ornate patterning, and the guests are all dressed up, some in gender nonconforming clothing. Their faces are washed with various bright colors of magenta, pinks, reds, etc, while the bridal couple are washed in aqua and the bride all in chartreuse. A white pattern with green flowers emerges from the bride and encircles her guests and loved ones.
This sculptural artwork is a swing, hanging on chains from the ceiling, of an antique sofa that has been converted into a painting/sculpture. It is painted peach with salmon and light pink details, and the back seat cushions have been replaced with paintings. On the left is a groom, with a bright magenta color fade wash on his face, dark blue suit, and warm dark lavender background with green vine florals coming off his shoulders. On the right is the bride, also same color wash on her face, a blue dress and veil, and the same green floral vines from her shoulders. Where the seat would be is replaced with hundreds of fabric flowers and stems, a whole bed of them, in colors ranging from white, cream, peach, coral, pink, and yellow, with some greenery.
Side view of Untitled ((5) November 1948 Photo Stamenov Plodiv)* translated from Bulgarian, 110”x69”x49
A lifesize painted over photograph of a bride and groom—the bride on the left is washed in a gradient of light to dark blue, and you can see (5) written over her body as remnants of the original photo. The groom wears purple and leans into the bride holding a bouquet of bright salmon pink flowers, and they stand on an elaborate patterned rug. The painting is framed with two fabrics, one green with magnolias, the other cream with purple flowers. The top has polyfil stuffing to give the dangling green fabric the appearance of almost arms, and flowers on metallic threads dangle from them on either side. At the bottom is a carpet of fabric flowers, almost like a bridal train, that juts forward
Cropped image of painting "Untitled (Wu 26 ul 1956 Keng U Photo 154 High , K.L.) *translated from Chinese, with the title of an upcoming solo Before These Witnesses at the Harold J. Miossi Gallery at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, CA, with dates January 30-March 14 and artist name, Daisy Patton. In the painted over photo, a vibrant bright pink, magenta, and deep reddish purple wash covers a seated bride, her groom half sitting and leaning over her, and a bridesmaid and groomsman stand behind them. They have a painted backdrop of a scene with water and a moon and a block of trees rendered as an abstract shape. The bride and bridesmaid hold bouquets of bright yellow flowers, and a periwinkle blue pattern of purple shamrocks emerge from both women and connect to the men
Closeup of "Untitled (Three Generations with Ornate Rugs)," showing the baby with a pacifier with a happy expression seated in their grandmother's lap. You can see the dotted patterning in other the woman on the left's green dress (who wears a dark navy jacket over her dress) to the grandmother's red dress dotted with a light peach under her light sea green head covering. The yellow vines of the pattern are shown with the white and purple flowers.