Thoughts of Home explores the intersection between the ideas of home and memory. My overall body of work focuses on family, memory, and the passage of time. By encasing these remembrances in wax through encaustic practices, I hope to preserve these thoughts in an unchanging space. As an extension of family relations, this installation has turned to the theme of “home.” A term which holds vast depth, yet vaguely defined depending on the time, the place, and the person. Is “home” a geography, a feeling, a structure, or a physical surrounding? It holds both weight in the past, the present, and the future in contrasting and foggy understandings. “Home:” once a place for family to gather and expand, now carried on by remnants of memory that feel airy and detached. “Home:” currently a transitory space defined less by the shelter it provides, and rather by the familiarity of its surroundings. “Home:” a hope for the future, although disjointed and out-of-reach, holding desire for a stable space to develop new beginnings.
This series consists of two parts exploring the geographical impact on thoughts of home. Living in an unstable transitory state, “home” may often be defined less by the space directly lived in and more by the familiarity of the greater surroundings. Upon returning home from a trip, the sight of agricultural fields are a welcoming first sign of Colorado from the viewpoint of a descending airplane. In contrast, by car the unique yet familiar mountain features of the Front Range are the biggest indicators of nearing home.
Encaustic, graphite, and paper, 48” x 24”
Detail
Encaustic, graphite, and paper, 48” x 24”
Encaustic, graphite, pastel, and colored pencil, 72” x 96”
The white picket fence is an icon of the American dream of homeownership, living stability, and potential growth of family. Shrouded in layers of wax and obstructed by foggy mark-making, the fence recedes into the texture of the negative space. Seemingly displaced and out of reach, the fence appears unreal. Here the fence lives as if drawn by imaginary lines conjoined between the textured elements of a wall stared at by a nearby daydreamer. Lacking the accompanying form of a house, this icon of “home” becomes a figment of both memory and desire. The fence, although distant, weighs on the dreamer who is homesick of a home unknown.
Detail
Detail
This series consists of three pieces, each featuring prominently remembered ‘homes’ in the past of three individuals. Each home was drawn from memory. The airy, detached, dream-like quality of each piece is in response to the simplicity of the memory and the ungrounding experience of the inevitable departure from each location. These homes, obstructed by darkness of impartial memory, include open doors to welcome the viewer into the unseen interiors.
Encaustic, pastel, graphite, and paper, 24” x 24”
Encaustic, pastel, graphite, and paper, 24” x 24”
Encaustic, pastel, graphite, and paper, 24” x 24”
Encaustic, graphite, paper, and thread
In contrast to the familiarity of the broader landscapes, “Stitching Memories” proposes familiarity of surroundings are also recognized on a more intimate scale. While the structure of a home may be flexible and changing, the objects holding personal importance within the space remain consistent. Quilts have a unique presence in the home as they hold a history demonstrating learned skills passed down through generations of family. Through recreating quilts with encaustic processes, this quilt attempts to capture memories old and new. Constructed entirely by non-quilting materials, paper and wax, this quilt is as fragile as the memories it hopes to preserve.
Detail
Detail