Julia Betts: The Dams are Broken On view May 6–September 20 in the Robertshaw Gallery at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art.

Celebrate the opening of this installation during Art on Tap: Monster Drawing Rally on Friday, May 8. Learn more and get tickets here.

In this work, Julia Betts approaches portraiture through the lens of personal possessions. She visits each subject’s home to document the objects that populate their daily lives and then translates them into poured rubber forms that she then paints. These fragments of domestic life do not remain peripheral; they merge with the human figure, collapsing the boundary between person and possession. What begins as a portrait becomes something more unstable, revealing how the things we accumulate can gradually begin to consume us. The Dams are Broken is presented in partnership with Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and The Westmoreland Museum of American Art.

Learn more about THE DAMS ARE BROKEN

Artwork credit: Julia Betts, The Dams are Broken, 2024. Acrylic paint and rubber. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Rachel Kuzma