Our Pillows

2017

For One, In A Shared Room is an exhibition of works on paper, sculpture, video, and installation visualizing the site and form of intimacy. The works collectively describe intimacy in context to the ordinary and how memory, feeling, and people become intimately embedded in the objects and spaces of home.

Our Pillows is a group of large etchings originating from a practice of documenting mine and my partner's pillows every morning after waking up. The site of these pillows become after-images of the night before, suspended in a dream-like space made from the pressed texture of bed sheets etched into metal. The objects occupying our domestic spaces become stand-ins for us, reflecting back facets of our identity and mediating shared forms of emotional connection. The qualities of pillows reflect ideas of softness, rest, and comfort. In homage to Felix González-Torres’ work, these images function as portraits signifying the tenderness within queer life.

Installation view, 2017, Haw Contemporary, Kansas City, MO (photo by Brian Hawkins)

Our Pillows (at 2:33 PM), 2017, Etching with soft ground, aquatint, and drypoint on paper, 26" x 32" (photo by Brian Hawkins)

Our Pillows (at 7:35 AM), 2017, Etching with soft ground, aquatint, and drypoint on paper, 28" x 38" (photo by Brian Hawkins)

Our Pillows (at 10:34 AM), 2017, Etching with soft ground, aquatint, and drypoint on paper, 22" x 32" (photo by Brian Hawkins)