Ana Stapleton
acrylic on canvas, 2026
24 × 18 in, unframed

Did you know there is a top ten list of must have bags for Fall? I didn’t either, but fell down a handbag rabbit hole on Instagram one night and discovered that not only are there ten, there are many more. I’ll admit, I added a few of them to my cart, in a fever. This painting is a meditation on the strange mix of delight and ick I get from the unending stream of pretty things that my feed offers up. I’m an artist, so I’m visual and it’s a thrill to look, and to have my creativity expressed through things I choose to wear, but do I need one more — let alone three more bags — to feel chic or relevant or presentable? No, I really don’t.

Click on image to see entire painting.