Medium: Collage, Resin and Acrylic on Cradled Wood
Dimensions: 12 × 12 × 1 in
Year: 2026

Sit Still and Look Pretty examines the expectations placed on women to remain quiet, polished, and visually pleasing. Borrowing its title from a familiar cultural command, the work questions how femininity is often performed rather than freely expressed.

Built through layered collage, acrylic, and resin, the composition juxtaposes a poised female figure with fragments of vintage imagery, oversized typography, and playful polka dots. The glossy surface invites viewers closer while concealing and revealing imagery beneath, echoing the tension between appearance and identity. The vibrant orange field and graphic red letter create visual confidence, while the monochromatic collage suggests the histories and expectations that continue to shape women's lives.

Rather than offering a single narrative, the piece encourages viewers to consider the distance between who we are and who we are expected to become. Through layering, distortion, and juxtaposition, Sit Still and Look Pretty explores performance, visibility, and the quiet resistance of defining oneself on one's own terms.

This one-of-a-kind tall ceramic milk jug transforms the familiar silhouette of everyday packaging into a sculptural vessel.

Built by hand, the piece is finished in layered White Satin Matte, Mystic Tide, and Weeping Plum glazes. Soft cream grounds the lower form while mauve, olive, blush, and smoky tonal shifts move across the upper surface, pooling around the shoulders and handle.

The taller proportions give the piece a more elongated, architectural presence than the standard milk jug form, while the irregular handmade surface keeps it from feeling too rigid or utilitarian.

Display it on its own as a ceramic sculpture or use it as a vase for flowers or dried botanicals.

Each piece is individually built and glazed by hand, so subtle irregularities in form and surface are part of the work.

Details
Handbuilt tall ceramic milk jug
White Satin Matte + Mystic Tide + Weeping Plum glazes
One of a kind
Inventory No. T26.21
Signed by the artist
Approx. Size: 8.75 × 3.25 × 3.25 in.

He Called Me a Good Girl examines the language of approval and the power dynamics embedded within it. The phrase carries a surface-level sense of praise, yet within the composition it becomes loaded—shaping how the figure is seen, positioned, and valued.

Layered imagery and subtle fragmentation disrupt a singular reading, revealing the tension between validation and control. What appears affirming begins to shift, suggesting how external approval can both construct and confine identity.

Through repetition and surface variation, the work reflects on how femininity is conditioned and reinforced—where performance, expectation, and perception intersect. As with much of Van Atta’s practice, the image remains unsettled, holding space between acceptance and resistance.

Details

• Archival giclée print

• Printed on heavyweight, museum-quality fine art paper

• Multiple sizes available

• Unframed

• Signed

Sizes

• Small: 8 × 10 in with a 1 inch border

• Medium: 12 × 15 in with a 1 inch border

• Large: 24 × 30 in with a 2 inch border

• Extra Large: 36 × 45 in with a 2 inch border