The Servant

2018 | Photograph | ed. 3 + 1AP

The Servant is a self-portrait staged as a contemporary re-enactment of Vermeer‘s “Milkmaid” pouring gesture. Suzan Noesen aims to question the role of woman and social class in the original painting by setting the gesture of the milkmaid against her own practice as a female artist in the 21st century. Back then the milk maid was a servant to Vermeer and his house. Now, this gesture is a mere step in the fulfilment of creative potential.

Camera and Set design Suzan Noesen

woman wearing black cloths and a headscarf in an artist studio, kneeling and pouring paint, with a large canvas in a bright greenish yellow colour leaning at the left wall, paintings of a table and a chair in the background
The Servant, 2018 © Suzan Noesen