Home is Texture, 2019
photographs printed on paper and leaves on foam-board
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This piece functions as a dialogue between the two places where I feel most at home: Chicago and the countryside of France where my family owns a house. Through texture, I wanted to explore how the dramatically different landscapes - which thus have dramatically different textures - can inform the other. How could these seemingly disparate places come together, connect? We live most of our lives in the digital sphere that we have forgotten how to be attuned to our sense of touch. If we look closely around us, we see the myriad textures that make up our built and natural environments. It is details like these that color our lives, and make them more intriguing, also because certain textures can arouse distinct memories that have been lodged in our brain. This piece also subliminally explores the concept of home, precisely as it relates to place. Where do I feel most at home? Are there recurring textures in the two places I call home? What contributes to this feeling of being at home?
I selected textures that were specific to each location: hazelnut tree leaves, plaster, birch tree bark, and flowers for our countryside house and concrete, brick, and cement. I used the city textures for the majority of the composition - as I live most of the time in the city - leaving a band of green leaves in the center to evoke a crack in the exterior wall, a detail which is commonly found on old structures - both in the city and rural areas. Furthermore, I used some of the city textures to create more natural elements - such as the roses and flower bushes - to represent the growth of plants in cracks. This is a phenomenon that I have observed in both these locations. it fascinates me how nature can find and build life in even the most lifeless of places. It serves as a metaphor for how to live our lives, and as a celebration of imperfections. If nature can create beauty in the cracks, then perhaps so can we.