Once back in my Brooklyn studio I immediately added these stripe-like legs to a big painting I'd already started of a lone woman in a bra. She had two eyes but otherwise was very simply painted. The light green color was already on my brush; I don't know where I found it but I liked it as a kind of neutral suit pants color. The painting as a whole balanced greens and pinks and also a woman's torso with surrounding trouser legs.

I had already done several paintings with Fear of… in the title (Fear of Waves, Fear of Dawn, Fear of Onions), so Fear of Shoes slipped easily into my imagination.

Why is this person surrounded by legs? I haven't wanted or felt obliged to answer this question. I completed the painting visually and continue to be intrigued by the questions it raises.

-Katherine Bradford, July 2023