Welcome Home
An interactive exhibition centered around a handmade book. The book was bound using stab binding (concealed in the cover, which is made from an old pillowcase), and measures about 15 × 23 inches when closed.
To the left is the poster I designed for the event, and a series of photos showing a walkthrough of the exhibition. Below is a text description, the tracks I made for the music portion of the exhibit, the full book, and the artist statement.
Crayon, graphite, found objects, sound/music
2023
Description
Upon entering the exhibition, the viewer will first notice the fort and the colorful chaos around it, as well as the chaotic music. They will be curious at first, but eventually the music and the bright light and colors will become overwhelming, and they will seek escape from it. The fort has a welcome mat at the front, so they will be drawn to enter. Even if the viewer has arrived with others, the size of the pillow fort means that only one person is able to go inside at a time, ensuring that each viewer has an individual experience.
Inside the fort, it’s comfortingly small and dark and full of soft objects (pillows, blankets, stuffed animals). Once sitting down, the viewer will discover the headphones and put them on, becoming more relaxed as the calm music drowns out the chaos outside the fort. They will then notice the book (which blends in with the other objects because of the padded pillowcase cover) and begin reading it. The beginning of the book portrays the main character entering a bright, colorful, chaotic realm, before noticing a pillow fort with a welcome mat in front and deciding to go inside. This beginning sets the viewer up to realize that the book’s story is about them—and about everyone who experiences the exhibit.
Personal Space (played outside the fort)
Welcome Home (played on headphones)
Artist Statement
This immersive exhibition explores how humans create a sense of “home,” in both physical spaces, and within our bodies and minds, and how these physical and psychological ideas of home intersect.
Our innate need to create a home for ourselves is present throughout all stages of life. One of the first instances of this need is the act of making forts as a child. Whether made of snow, cardboard, blankets, or anything else, these forts are places where as children we get to make the rules, and in our domain we feel safe from the outside world. As we grow up, gradually our personal safe spaces become larger, but the need for them remains.
Most of the book takes place in the internal world, which is characterized by the colorful, childlike, unrealistic style of the artwork, but the story is bookended by representations of the outside world, shown through black-and-white realism. The found objects used in the exhibition also make use of childlike imagery, such as the pillow fort, stuffed animals, and bright colors. These elements reflect our first memory of creating a home—making a fort as a child.
For humans, creating a physical home also helps us achieve an even more important need: having that sense of safety and comfort come from within, by feeling at home in our minds and bodies. Many of us struggle with this, but those who feel most at peace are the ones who can return to their internal home whenever the outside world gets chaotic or overwhelming.
The individual experience of the fort and headphones, and the story illustrated in the book, all reflect this core message: by spending time alone you can truly get to know and accept yourself, and that internal reconciliation will allow you to carry a sense of home with you anywhere.