Beyond the material and physical aspect, understanding of home lies in the intersection of socially accepted, romanticized notions as a safe, comforting and nurturing shelter with the diverse subjective experiences that can entail alienation, anxiety and stress. Alison Blunt and Robyn Dowling (2006) develop a concept of home through critical geography to draw out the relation between the place of home with, scale, identity and power that exists within the space (pp. 2-3). This theoretical concept contains a wide and multifaceted view where the architecture of the place intersects with emotional, experiential, and socio-cultural significance. I started to refine the concept of home and the anxiety of domestic space by focusing on the pivotal moment in which the home environment changes from a supportive space to a hostile one. That moment is irreversible; it marks the concept of home forever.
The marks that are created on the surface of the wood are parallel to the events that the human body experiences. Similar to a piece of wood that is slowly shaped to a form through carving, the minds of individuals are being shaped by their environment. Carving wood, therefore, resembles a pivotal moment of change. Carving the medium of wood is an irreversible process.
During the 6 months of working on this project, I was able to add new materials such as rubber and fabric to the work. I was able to spend time and learn new techniques such as sewing. The fabric became an important medium to communicate the vulnerability of the body that often depends on a structure that supports it.
I am grateful for the support of BC Arts Council and the Province of British Columbia for the making of this project through Project Assistant Grant 2022
Blunt, A., & Dowling, R. (2006). Home. New York, NY: Routledge.
Murrani, S. (2020). Contingency and plasticity: The dialectical re-construction of the concept of home in forced displacement. Culture and Psychology. 26(2). pp. 173-186.
