Abstract
Through a focused exploration of self and space, my work examines the intersection of identity, domesticity, gender, privacy, performance, and safety, asking which informs which, and their relative tenability outside of cultural pressures and societal expectations. I am not the first to ask what makes a space a place, an action a performance, a person a woman, or a house a home, but I have been witness to my own pursuit of these definitions and the challenges that come when reconciling the competing desires that manifest from each. I spent my early twenties contorting myself into a version of femininity I thought I should be, only to spend the latter half redefining it on my own terms. Now, at twenty-nine, I set out to capture these conversations with my own womanhood – both what I inherited and what I constructed – and the many ways they have supported me: as a form of play, a crutch, a mask, a coping mechanism, a safety net, and a ticket in the door. With a sense of humor and a playful eye for irony, I put a microscope on how this has been reflected in the clothes I wear and the spaces I occupy – my interior and exterior worlds mirroring each other, multiplying reflections until the original can no longer be traced. Make Yourself at Home confronts the seductive nature of conformity, surveying the mechanisms I have used to shape my identities and reflect who I believe I am into my most intimate spaces and beyond. What do I do with my desire to be loud when I’ve been told to be quiet? How much agency am I willing to give in exchange for rights confused as privileges? When does it all stop being fun? By exploring socio-cultural patterns within domestic life through both modern and historical contexts, the work probes at the relationship between external performance and internal solitude, prompting the viewer to reflect on their own participation in sustaining or resisting these dynamics.