Exhibition | Home

DEFINED SPACES

living quarters: The origin of 'quarter' with the meaning of 'living quarter' comes from the French verb écarter, which means 'to separate' or 'to set apart'.

These artists use architecture of the home as a compositional element to organize their subjects. Who is inside and who is outside? Are we in the same space as the artist/subject, or are we kept at a remove?  Anna Leigh Flynn's figure is central, framed by the mirror and the bed, architectural elements that lend her significance even as she is turned away. The reflected beam of a doorway or window opens the interior scene and welcomes the viewer to share this otherwise solitary scene. David Graeme Baker sets his figure in front of a home lit by the morning sun. She is outside but still framed within the backdrop of her home, her position feels like an echo of her own adolescence.

THE FAMILIAR

"The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely." - Louisa May Alcott

Mirroring our natural experience of life at home, these paintings are unposed. Objects and people are placed without care. In these spaces, objects and friends are so familiar as to lose a sense of self consciousness around them. Peggi Kroll-Roberts shows an assortment of fruit and dishes, a mundane kitchen scene if not painted in lush colors and beautiful light. Chelsea Gibson paints a figure with a similar sense of ease and casual placement. The fact of her being painted shows she is important and her pose is worth noticing. Both paintings show us how strong light and an artist’s eye make the everyday more important. Their candid nature makes them all the more intimate.

HOUSEHOLD

"After all," Anne had said to Marilla once, "I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.” ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea

Colin Page paints still lifes of a family life spilled across a tabletop. This series began in the beginning of the pandemic, when home was the only place, and distinctions between work, play and family life were boundless. Life was full and together. These paintings document those blurred lines; children's crafts, work notes, art books, and snacks commingle. Terry Powers paintings are similarly evidence of a household, simultaneously a formal painting and an informal picture of home. Terry's paintings are observations of his immediate surroundings, without seeing a figure, we see the happy infusion of family life everywhere. Without seeing the interior architecture, we see a portrait of home. 

ACCUMULATED MEMORIES

home /hōm/ adverb deep; to the heart

The linens we touch, the dishes we use, the sounds and smells of home, these carry the weight of memory and accumulated intimacy. Sal Taylor Kydd’s sensory photograph, soft focused black and white, cropped on the pearl buttons of a satin dress, activates our subconscious memory of special occasions. Antonia Munroe’s love of textiles is also a love of the history of the patterns, dyes and fabrics. These paintings mimic a weathered fragment, implying many uses and enough importance to be preserved.