"Odalisque" (2007) by Anwen Keeling

"Odalisque" (2007) by Anwen Keeling, oil on linen, 122 x 81cm. From "the falling dark" series.

An odalisque was a virgin female slave who could rise in status to be a concubine or a wife in Ottoman Seraglios. Most were part of the harem of the Turkish sultan. See also previous posts featuring odalisques.

Here's some ArtSpeak™, courtesy of Elizabeth Hastings, Liverpool Street Gallery:

Keeling’s beguiling, realist paintings capture suspended moments in fictional lives with a reverence for drama, suspense and elegance. Like film stills from an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, Keeling’s isolated female figures are placed in a series of interiors where the space is either suffused with subtle, refracted light or illuminated by the harsh glare of an electric bulb. A film noir ambience is achieved with chiaroscuro effects and deep shadows which suggest an emotional and psychological undercurrent to the work. Yet the viewer is left to create their own narrative.

Here's a very nice photo of the artist herself: