PROJECT STATEMENT

Her House is an early project about a sense of place, more specifically, the house of my mother-in-law who passed away in the early 1990’s, several years before I met my husband. I have spent many holidays and family visits in her house, where my father-in-law continues to live.

These are portraits of her spaces, her sense of décor, her statement. I set out photographing these silent and eerie rooms hoping to find the remnants or an extension of the energetic, social personality I was told of. The resulting photographs, however, did not speak to her personality; instead, they revealed a highly controlled, meticulous statement of identity. Through décor, she presented her visual sense of prosperity, her way of appreciating culture and her definition of a beautiful, inviting home.

Contradictions have found their way into these spaces: kitschy dolls and decorations in formal rooms, “natural” porcelain objects that could not spoil or need replacing, rooms designed to receive guests that are rarely occupied. The rooms have an immaculate, undisturbed appearance; they say “look from a distance” and “do not disturb” as if they are a theatrical stage set or an exhibit in a museum. Some may find these rooms beautiful, others, perhaps cold and oppressive; the one constant, however, is the lingering sense of loss for a home that has lost its greatest admirer.