Michael Greathouse
“Child’s Play”
May 1 – June 30

Calvin had Hobbes. Andy had Woody and Buzz. Linus had his blanket. As children, we navigated the world with equal helpings of wonder and fear, gathering our understanding of the things and people around us as best we could. Often overwhelmed by what we found, a stuffed animal, doll, action figure, or treasured object became an intermediary, a constant companion and touchstone through which we could translate our experience. Michael Greathouse looks back to those times in Child’s Play, a body of new paintings that illuminate the hazy divide between childhood confidant and creepy critter.

Toys, especially those with anthropomorphic qualities, often live within a special realm in a child’s existence. Plushies, stuffed animals, and various dolls all exist in a hybrid space where they divert from natural fauna and are also clearly not human. Instead, they verge on the uncanny, the space in which figures become both abhorred and adored. Like the twisted inhabitants of the island of Dr. Moreau, these characters exhibit a push-and-pull that vacillates between precious and peculiar. In popular culture, characters like Chucky or the denizens of Five Nights at Freddy’s leverage this juxtaposition while playing upon the common adult distaste or fear of the clowns, puppets, and figurines so beloved in our youth.

In his new series, Michael Greathouse approaches the childhood companion from two points. Firstly, these observational pictures record the features and details of figures somewhere between baby dolls and labubus. Creating dynamic personalities through intimate framing and active rendering of their mischievous faces, the painter taps into the colorful imaginations of our childhood. The second approach is that of portraiture. Like the great purveyors of that form, Greathouse hints at the hidden soul that exists beneath the faux fur and plastic jowls by depicting each in a way that more strongly highlights the real connections their former owners had with them. Noting that each subject was previously loved by a child and discarded, the artist establishes a narrative life for the objects that links their past with a more universal commentary on human connection and growth.

Giving substance to spent time and love given, Greathouse’s paintings key into ideas brought forth by both theorist Georges Bataille and artist Mike Kelley. The Czech Surrealist pointed toward the informe, the formless ideas of the world that we so strikingly try to envision. How does one show love, fear, and the passage of time in art? Kelley, in his magnum opus of these elements given shape, More Love Hours Than Can Ever Be Repaid (1987), pushed the viewer to ruminate on the sheer amount of unseen use, connection, tears, and joy represented by his quilt-like assemblage of dingy animals. Both constructed ideas around something Greathouse continues by honing in on the unknowable magic of the imaginary friend, the animated personality of an inanimate object. He cites Freud’s 1919 essay, The Uncanny, in which the psychoanalyst noted that “children do not fear their dolls coming to life, they may even desire it.” Freud continued by arguing that an adult’s aversion to living dolls is really a fear of the resurgence of the infantile they left behind. But perhaps it is not as far in the past as we think? We ask questions of the internet and confide in AI bots as we navigate this changing world, struggling to make sense of ourselves and others. And when it comes to half-asleep whispers and muttered dreams, ChatGPT is a sorry substitute for the confidence of an unflinching fuzzy friend.

Michael Greathouse and Step Mother Nature are partnering with the non-profit Saranac Lake Holiday Helpers. During the two-month exhibition, there will be a toy drive to provide items to this local organization that seeks to ensure all children have a Merry Christmas.

This statement was written by Graham W. Bell.

Michael Greathouse

Happy Monkey

2026

Oil on canvas

12” x 12”