ДОМ
Project type:
Thesis work
Date:
2023
The first project in my thesis body of work is a graphite drawing of the house I grew up in, lightly swaying on a ghostly gauze. I wanted to depict it as a hazy unreachable memory. The drawing is a very detailed and accurate depiction of my building down to the AC units and styles of shutters. Its foundation is dismantled thread by thread in an attempt to disembody the structure. The only window illuminated in the building is my bedroom, upon which I project the warm feeling of belonging that still ties me to it.
Details
Metal cage/corset opens up on tiny door hinges on one side and laces up on the other. The edges of the structure are secured using the millinery technique of wrapping wire.
Materials:
Cotton gauze, graphite, glass beads
The beaded window on the top floor is the one that used to be my childhood bedroom. out of the window a string of golden beads reaches for the sky. To me it represents that disembodied connection that still ties me to the place. That memory of having a family, a home and a place where I wasn't yet an immigrant.
The bottom quarter of the garment is carefully distressed. I pulled individual threads from the warp and weft of the fabric in an attempt to weaken it. I wanted to emphasize the bodylessness of the building and the fear of the memory wasting away.
INSTALLATION
This installation was on location. And for the location, I chose an abandoned parking lot underneath the elevated train tracks.
It fits well with the theme of the passage of time with rusty and overgrown metal structures. And the fence echoed nicely the structure of the cage.
Sunlight was playing off the sheer fabric occasionally lighting up my window. And the wind was gently pushing the house giving it the illusion of breath.
