Alterations

My work is not about making big declamatory statements. It\u27s about looking around within my home environment and noticing something and thinking about it. At times (it) is noticed by me as I am passing by a storefront window or browsing through a second-hand store. I never have a clue to what I am looking for until I see it and buy it. Many times I will live with the object for years before deciding to use it as part of my art. Yet when I decide to use the object(s) I find it important to understand how they have been used, under used and why they are tossed away and given little notice in our day-to-day lives. In September, I was given Studio 244. Located in Shattuck Hall, Studio 244 was a former women\u27s dressing room for the Theater Department. As soon as I saw it I realized this was home to my installation. The opportunity to work in this studio for nine months and to create an environment that would alter the look of the original space was extremely exciting and challenging. I divided the studio into three separate rooms. I built a long, narrow corridor, a tall windowed room (Domestic Goddess Room) and another room which was windowless but bright and cheery (Dressed For Success Room). These three rooms contained objects and texts which gave information to the way many women have lived and continue to live in the institution of home. Life is predicated on change. Many objects and concepts that we once took for granted as part of everyday life either have vanished or now seem destined to disappear. Others should have disappeared but keep popping up in each new generation disguised in new words and new packaging. I am a carrier and conservator of my culture, the good and the bad. As a visual artist I have the opportunity to tell my point of view, my passions and my story within the confines of a space which I have built and created for the sole purpose of saying, Look at this. Please