The Emotional Landscape

Inspired by Carrie Bradshaw’s line “I like my money right where I can see it: hanging in my closet”, this piece captures the cultural shift that is happening: women are choosing to spend their money on themselves instead of investing into a relationship that may drain us or ask for our emotional labour in return. What looks like consumption is actually reclamation. A pair of heels becomes an act of control, a reminder of creativity in a world that tells women to put themselves as less of a priority. Where older generations encourages us to build a life with a man, we are placing ourselves at the centre. The slow accumulation of women nowadays pushing having a boyfriend to one side isn’t a rejection of love, but a rejection of the expectation that love must cost us freedom, ambition and sometimes even self respect. A romantic partner no longer guarantees safety, stability or a future, but investing in ourselves does. This painting embodies that cultural shift we are watching unfold.

The Story of Creation

Women are recognising the emotional labour they have been giving away for free. What looks like light-hearted “sprinkle sprinkle” TikTok humour is actually a deeply strategic message: stop over giving, stop mothering men and don’t confuse self-sacrifice with love. We joke about “hating men” but underneath the laughter was the exhaustion and clarity that so many women have burnout due to pouring everything into men while receiving little in return.

This painting sits in that shift, and honours the women who have stopped giving their energy away in relationships that ultimately drain them. Instead investing it into starting a business, working on yourself, or choosing to redirect that energy into friendships. The rise of “sprinkle sprinkle” logic isn’t about bitterness, it is about women protecting their time, their softness and their emotional resource over handing it freely to men who don’t reciprocate. This piece is about the reallocation of love.

Personal Connection

I have found the deepest forms of intimacy have come from the women in my life who have been there for me. The ones who celebrate with us, who sit in our rage with us, and who witness all the in between moments. This kind of platonic love doesn’t ask you to perform, or show up as the perfect version of yourself. The women in my life just get it. This painting is a thank you to the women in my life who just get it. They remind me that love is not always romantic and you can be unapologetically yourself. Love becomes a place that you act from, not something you chase. A place where you are truly understood and listened to.

Display recommendations

Size: 100cm x 100cm
Medium: Acrylic paint on canvas

This artwork belongs in a space where it can serve as a reminder of the intimacy found in female friendships, and the kind of love you don’t have to earn.