Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Domestic Vacations

Captivating photography by Julie Blackmom. I particularly like her work entitled "Domestic Vacations" (seen below).
The Dutch proverb “a Jan Steen household” originated in the 17th century and is used today to refer to a home in disarray, full of rowdy children and boisterous family gatherings. The paintings of Steen, along with those of other Dutch and Flemish genre painters, helped inspire Julie's work.

Julie is the oldest of nine children and now the mother of three. The stress, the chaos, and the need to simultaneously escape and connect are issues that Julie explores in "Domestic Vacations".
"We live in a culture where we are both “child centered” and “self-obsessed.” The struggle between living in the moment versus escaping to another reality is intense since these two opposites strive to dominate. Caught in the swirl of soccer practices, play dates, work, and trying to find our way in our “make-over” culture, we must still create the space to find ourselves. The expectations of family life have never been more at odds with each other. These issues, as well as the relationship between the domestic landscape of the past and present, are issues I have explored in these photographs. I believe there are moments that can be found throughout any given day that bring sanctuary. It is in finding these moments amidst the stress of the everyday that my life as a mother parallels my work as an artist, and where the dynamics of family life throughout time seem remarkably unchanged. As an artist and as a mother, I believe life’s most poignant moments come from the ability to fuse fantasy and reality: to see the mythic amidst the chaos."

6 comments:

French Furniture said...

Hahaha thats so funny!

Effbie said...

very nice concept! love it

laissezfaire said...

Hello all! Thanks for your comments! x

VICTORIA BELLOW said...

I adore those words of belief,the vision as an artist and as a mother!very inspiring...i like the concept of your blog,i enjoyed reading!I'm your newest follower!

SheMel said...

I love the concept of your blog!i had so much fun reading the whole articles.Love your Blog.i'm your follower now.

Lacey Angel Adams said...

These photographs are what I imagine Alice's (Alice in Wonderland)house would like... I love it.