Domesticity and Decoration
This project began as an exploration that came out of a discussion with my daughter. We asked “why is it that making domestic art objects is so damn taboo?” “Why is it not Okay to make a chandelier or a candlestick as an expressive object?” And “What happens if I do?” And “What happens if I celebrate the domestic object?” “Is the domestic object taboo because it belongs in the realm of women?” “Is it because it is part of a household where women find refuge and freedom to express themselves through decoration?”
So, we decided to go ahead and begin making personal objects to decorate our lives. Ironically, the material that I have spent most of life working with, steel, is considered a male oriented medium, but steel has afforded me the control and scale that I need for this project. Employing industrial, manufactured materials for this domestic oriented project makes sense. .
We plan to create domestic objects that investigate the distinction between “purposeful-ness” and decoration; objects that have been traditionally made by men, but are used by women domestically. We want to explore the interconnectedness of domesticity and art. We would like to make candelabras, assorted decorative, domestic heirlooms that will tell our story.