Photo Series Category

The images in this series are visual explorations of the house as object and idea. A house provides shelter but also a sense of home. Houses appear in dreams and serve as metaphors for the human soul. Owning one is an important life goal; losing it can be catastrophic. After photographing homes, churches, stores, and other buildings reflecting vernacular architecture for several years, I began to re-evaluate how humans create, destroy, and remember built space. As the most basic of such spaces, structures that "house" people share visual and functional elements. I am taking those familiar features out of context by making miniature houses from paper and other materials and placing them in environments that carry historical or emotional meaning. The houses are out of scale and out of place, creating a tension between object and location that is meant to trigger thoughts on place and belonging. Viewers are invited to let the photos remind them of real or imagined places they know. The images of paper houses are grouped with photos of exteriors and interiors that have helped inspire the series.