Dwell

'The Golden Ticket', 2012
Juried Exhibition
Winner of the "People's Choice' 
​Clifton Cultural Arts Center

found organic material, linen thread, copper

I am fascinated by the concept of home. These self-created spaces not only contain our possessions but also have the ability to make something foreign feel familiar. I've always been deeply attached to my homes, layering them with meaning and power. I have often felt like part of me was torn away with each move forward. Today, for the first moment in my life, I find myself with no permanent address. My family and friends are scattered across the country and my belongings are boxed and packed in storage lockers a thousand miles away. This new and uncomfortable feeling is beginning to define this period of transition in my life and I am learning to place new value on the ephemeral. This installation is an attempt to make sense of these feelings and create a nest unbound to land, a home to carry on my back.

An estimated 30 to 40 million people live nomadically in the modern world. Swayed by season and market, these people roam. Their homes exist in the absence of a specific location. During the planning and creation of this piece I studied the homes of nomadic tribes around the world. This installation
mimics, in size and shape, their dwellings both past and present. Combined with my previous exploration of nests as hallowed spaces that foster life, this installation intends to highlight the unique beauty of finding comfort in uncertainty.

To be uprooted is not to be lost.