Living in a Haunted House

Description

Living in a Haunted House explores the unsettling feeling of living in a place where so many things seem to go wrong that the house itself begins to feel like part of the problem. For Rose Marinelli, the work reflects a period when a succession of difficult experiences led her to wonder whether her home was somehow cursed or haunted.

The composition centres on an arched doorway within a familiar domestic interior. Architectural forms are traced in electric lines of green, yellow and red, set against a deep field of purples and blues. Even ordinary details, such as a hat resting on a wall hook, take on an unusual intensity. Through jagged digital contours and layered colour, the recognisable structure of the home seems to waver, as though the space itself has become unsettled.

For Marinelli, the work grew from the experience of having so much go wrong that it became difficult to regard each problem as an isolated event. When setbacks accumulate and explanations remain elusive, an ordinary home can begin to feel strangely unfamiliar. The place that should offer comfort and security becomes associated with uncertainty, frustration and the persistent question of what might go wrong next.

The idea of a haunted house becomes a metaphor for this state of mind. A haunting suggests something lingering beneath the surface, an unseen presence that cannot easily be explained or dismissed. In this work, that presence remains ambiguous. There is no clearly depicted ghost or supernatural figure; instead, the atmosphere of the interior conveys the feeling that something is not quite right.

The doorway is central to this sense of unease. As a threshold between one space and another, it suggests the boundary between the familiar and the unknown. The house remains recognisable, yet its distorted outlines and intense colours make it feel unstable. Everyday objects appear caught within an atmosphere that has become charged with meaning.

The title, Living in a Haunted House, carries both a literal suggestion and a psychological undertone. It evokes the question that can arise when life becomes persistently difficult: is there something wrong with the place itself, or has the accumulation of experience changed the way it feels to inhabit it? The work leaves that question open, allowing the unsettling atmosphere to express the uncertainty rather than provide an answer.

Through its vivid colours, fractured outlines and distorted architectural forms, Marinelli transforms a familiar domestic setting into a psychological landscape. The work reflects on how repeated difficulties can alter our relationship with a place, turning home from a refuge into a source of unease.

Living in a Haunted House captures the strange feeling of no longer being entirely comfortable in one’s own surroundings — when so much has happened that even the house itself begins to feel as though it holds unanswered questions.