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Photo credit:
Abner Nolan, From the series: Reside, 1998-2000; c-print.
Courtesy of the artist.
Photo credit:
Janet Delaney, From the series: Home Fries, 1995-2000; c-print.
Courtesy of the artist.
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Safe Haven: Picturing Domestic Space
Curated by Diana Gaston
San Francisco Camerawork presents the work of Peter Brown, Janet Delaney, Sarah Malakoff, Kim Manchester, Abner Nolan, and Kelli Yon, who all explore the familiar yet elusive nature of domestic space"
"A wardrobe," writes Czeslaw Milosz, is "filled with the mute tumult of memories," and by extension, the house too, might be interpreted as a container of encoded messages and layers of family history. The five photographers featured here find the basis for their intimate narratives in everyday surroundings, turning up ordinary household objects and simple rituals as exquisite details from a larger family drama. Through the photograph, the highly personal space of home becomes emblematic, uncovering the broad notion of domestic space as a repository of memory, history, and emotional artifacts.
Given the highly charged nature of the domestic setting, it is relatively easy to uncover emotional landmines. It is more difficult to draw out the subtle traces of the family narrative. The photographers featured here achieve this by seeking out seemingly insignificant bits of evidence as the basis for their narratives. Their imagery fixates on detritus, common household objects and chores, family snapshots, and simple comforting rituals - revealing the poignancy of the familial space through the commonplace.
Peter Brown and Janet Delaney turn the camera on their own domestic spaces, but they do so in such a way that the narratives of daily life are essentially universal in meaning. Brown (MFA Stanford University) has been quietly documenting the traces of domestic life over a period of several decades, creating reverential still lifes from the patterns of family ritual and the protected space of home. Delaney (MFA San Francisco Art Institute) has photographed the small dramas of family for several years, juxtaposing ordinary fragments of domestic life with more oblique and poetic symbols. Abner Nolan (MFA California College of Arts and Crafts) explores the hidden narratives within the domestic environment and how the photograph itself - very much like the interior of rooms - serves to archive and incite memory. Kelli Yon (MFA California College of Arts and Crafts) turns her camera on found domestic environments, photographing estate sales and all the belongings that are offered for public sale following the death or permanent leave of the owner. Sarah Malakoff (MFA School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) explores the psychologically charged spaces and objects of the home, deliberately drawing out the tension between absence and presence in her formally appointed, empty rooms. In all of the work presented here, the photographs rarely include people. The human narratives are envisioned through the telling traces and signs of rooms.
Gallery Admission is F R E E
Gallery Talks are available for classes and community groups. Please call to schedule: 415-863-1001 or e-mail us.
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