A Layered Space: Inside Out (v.4)
Show runs March 31 - May 5, 2023 at Beatrice M. Haggerty Gallery at University of Dallas.
In its 4th iteration, A Layered Space opened at the University of Dallas Spring 2023. The body of work significantly expanded to include a 50’ swimming pool and foliage filling up the fantasy back yard. The dramatic scale of the pool directly reflects the value of its healing powers physically and mentally. It’s a playground, a counselor, a diary, and a temple all at the same time. Full statement from that time below gallery.
We were 4 months away from celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary. I came home from work one day to find the most jarring scene: the closet, which we shared for most of our life together, was suddenly half empty. Hangers dangled like a harrowing wind chime revealing the void.
I was left.
In the months that followed, I started documenting the remaining objects in my home.
This is an altered view of my private space at that time. Objects are chosen for their specific symbolism. For example, intentionally conceived to be an interruption, are the tiny wedding dresses. As one goes through the day, reminders of the pain interject themselves. Without permission, the memories demand attention. 16 dresses symbolize 16 years of marriage.
Portraying time are the dogs. As the viewer meanders through the room, Instagram photos of the dogs demonstrate their journey through life and how they brought me back to life. The story begins with Basil and Scout (as a puppy) and ends with #radarandscout in the studio window.
Invoking the sense of walking underwater, the calming tones of the pool installation offers a complicated yet tranquil viewpoint. Swimming allows tears to dissolve away therapeutically. The density of the pool drowns out the voices of loss and serves as an aid of renewal. Plants and flowers thrived on their own, as if they knew I was paralyzed and could not tend to them. Once I regained my strength and clarity, I realized how much beauty I was missing out on and how much gratitude I have for those elements.
This lived experience has evolved to emphasize the time and space between relics that allow for reflection, healing, hope and eventually, happiness. Distorting the perspective, scale and reality of objects offers a playful and bizarre dreamlike passage through the space.
This work is a continuation of the original installation "A Layered Space" from 2009 which focused on the living room and a different back yard. This collection is a unique photographic process I created, The Canvas Peel. The process is still secret.