Dieting (from The Seven Deadly Sins of Modern Times)
Susan Dorothea White
Dieting (The Seven Deadly Sins of Modern Times), (detail), 1993
acrylic on wooden table, dia. 123 cm (48")

Dieting replaces Gluttony, with "skinny as a rat" devouring profiteroles. A skeleton performing a belly dance is the prizewinner of a slimming contest. The winning diet consists of one "curate's egg" for breakfast, "curried favour" for lunch, and "own juice stew" for dinner. A woman, reduced to skin and bone, shuns the lavish spread of food on the table, and pushes away the baking dish with her foot. Behind her is a menu: "Today's Special: Hen's Teeth Consommé and Stoned Crow Tripe, or 2 Peas in a Pod and Thin End of Cheese Wedge; Dessert, 2 Bites of one Cherry; Drink, Vintage Crocodile Tear".

Susan D White

Homepage: Susan Dorothea White - painter, sculptor, printmaker