The poetics of space
As a child, I was told that my life should follow a path. I was to go to school…elementary, middle, high school and college. After college I would work for a while then get married and have children. I did just that. But as my children grew up and would soon be on their own, I began to realize I had no idea what was next. I also realized that throughout my life, I had actually been different people at different times. This installation explores those stages we go through in life as women. From infancy through old age.
I broke a woman’s life down into 12 stages. The stages three “empty” stages were only empty because I did not know what to expect from them.
This comforter was made up of individual pages from an encyclopedia. Each day I would paint a leaf shape on a page. Then around the edges write a brief description of what had happened that day.
Infancy
This piece represents adolescence where our whole life is enshrined on the refrigerator
Parenthood
The chaos of parenthood
Childhood
Marriage
Where do we chose to keep our memories? Do we display them or lovingly place them in a drawer?
The final stage
Candyland
In the summer of 2011, I reimagined the Poetics of Space show at Candyland Gallery in Stockholm, Sweden. I did not include the large drawings. Instead I embroidered the same leaf patterns on the types of garments that women wear.
