Totem (2024)

assorted refrigerator doors on astroturf

part of ‘minor details’ exhibition (Jan 11 - Mar 23)

TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image

organized by Rami George

Totem is a response to Rami George’s gracious invitation into their photographic archive, consisting of scenes in domestic life.

“I wanted to extend an invitation to a group of artists I greatly admire. Not quite curation, but rather a welcoming into a foundational part of my own practice: that of responding to and from a series of collected photos. These are images I’ve accumulated over the years, from thrift stores, flea markets, the street—my own family photos getting mixed in at times. I’ve been holding and working from these images for over a decade now. Photos not made with “art” in mind, but rather a drive to document—ourselves, our communities, our homes, our lives. 

 I met with Alina, Connie, M, MAP, Nick, and Steph to see what was on their minds at this moment. I then selected images (five) for each artist. Photos offered as a prompt or springboard: no expectations as to what might be produced, no requirement that they make their way into the final work(s). A gesture of call and response. I said I would create a single work too, one that holds all of the photos offered, a preface or ledger of sorts. Together—the invited artists, the unknown original photographers, TILT, myself—are co-creating this exhibition, leaning into the minor details, larger themes unfolding organically.”

Totem uses the above photos as points of departure to search for meaning in post-religious existence - sacredness in the profane. The installation poses a prompt asking:

The refrigerator is a staple household appliance and a timeless vessel for iconography, evoking the timeless action of placing precious items (eg. report cards, doodles, holiday cards) on its facade. Here it is stripped down to doors, rectangular surfaces arranged to hold images across a wide surface area.

By drawing an image or printing one from a smartphone, visitors can create new icons that both disrupt institutional/traditional ideals of ‘good-ness’ and affirm the beauty of their lives. Over the course of the exhibition, Totem will continue to accumulate responses and grow over time.