Placeholder
This project is an extension of my previous work in Out.View.Look.Point, which centers on my experiences of growing up in a block-housing neighborhood in post-communist Eastern Europe. The paintings in Placeholder are based on diorama-like sets that I built out of found tourist postcards reminiscent of the Sublime genre: panoramic views of grand vistas, giant rock formations, and gazing figures. Against this scenery, I place images of children playing in front of block housing sites, often unaware of their surroundings. Sublime tropes such as “the beautiful” and “the natural” in conjunction with utilitarian architecture, challenge us to rethink the value of block housing as a site of beauty and whimsy rather than a denigrated sociopolitical construct.
