Kirkham paints individuals, especially girls and women, who live in a world of melancholy and apathy. The erotic connotations of their often sexually provocative poses are nullified by the blank, endlessly staring look in their eyes and an apparent disinterest in the world around them. The figures all appear to suffer from an all-embracing melancholy. Poses that at first glance seem to be explicitly erotic are rendered alienating and hollow through the apathy of the people portrayed.