Kalispell miniature house

 

I visited Montana in September 2011 and was interested in the concept of the 'American Dream'. I met families who loved the thrill and comfort of living in their own wonderful creation and

others who were quite keen to get out. It dawned on me how hard it must be to 'sell up' not just your home, but also something that you have designed and built with your own hands. 

 

English Miniature Houses

My first series of miniature houses are tiny replicas of my childhood homes, and dwellings in which I felt safe as a youngster.

My father decided to sell my grandparent's house whilst I was a teenager. I knew how heartbroken my conservative grandmother would have been, knowing that her precious net curtains and cushion covers would be stacked up in a musky charity shop, and so suddenly found myself the proud owner of an array of everyday household items.  It suddenly dawned on me just how important the home and it's contents are to us, and how they form this nest of security, comfort, and protection.

I am very interested in the simple concept of the miniature. In Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood', Mrs Clutter points out that miniature things really belong to you, that they don't have to be left behind, and that you can carry them with you wherever you go. Each house in this series can be flattened to show the interior or 'bunched up' to create an architectural form. All of my English houses are made from cardboard.

'Forgotten Place'

We spend such a huge amount of time, money and effort creating 'the perfect home'. These Turkish and Greek Cypriots had such a short space of dazed time to grab their most prized possessions, unsure if they would ever set foot in their house again.

Unfinished meals left on empty tables, the morning's washing still hanging in the garden. Precious photographs still grouped in the bedside drawer.

'Tomb of the Kings Road'

I am incredibly interested in the concept of the'home'. The home can be comfortable, protective and warm, but it can also be stifling, controlling, and cold.

I have always been drawn to dollhouses, and the controlling aspect of the miniature.

I wanted to recreate the wonderful abandoned houses I had stumbled upon in Cyprus in tiny forms using faded cigarette boxes, representing the derelict crumbling walls. The people in both the North and South of Cyprus had no choice but to flee their homes in the 1974 civil war. I like the idea of being able to take your home with you everywhere you go, kept safe in the warmness of your pocket, easily detected by a simple stroke of the finger.

Cyprus 2009 online diary

I'm currently studying on a Contemporary Studies Post Grad course in Cyprus, and am finding myself becoming increasingly interested in the amount of abandoned houses here.