Something’s a little off…
Lindsey Miller
I often find myself thinking back to when I was growing up, and sometimes I do a double take and realize that hidden within the reminiscences are instances that bring up difficult emotions. How can we feel so much nostalgia about our childhood, even though there’s trauma behind it? Something’s a little off… explores this curiosity using adolescent imagery that subtly references childhood traumas such as parental separation, loss of a loved one, isolation, hoarding, etc.
Something’s a little off… takes the form of an overflowing, overly loved dresser familiar to many of what might be found in a childhood bedroom. A vessel representative of myself. At first comforting, a closer look shows each drawer is stuffed with toys and cigarettes as a way of portraying the mess and clutter I grew up surrounded by. Handmade stuffed animals are created to be scraggly, lovable and eerie, a depiction of how some pets aren’t always taken care of as they should be and become neglected; neglect that as a child you are powerless to stop. The stuffed animals are also representative of the vulnerability of childhood; they can be manipulated and controlled just as a young child can be by their caregivers. Handmade ceramic dollhouse furniture is tucked into drawers and consumed by the disorderly mess around them, symbolic of the domestic spaces I grew up in. Something’s a little off... shows how many survive without the ability to thrive due to the conditions they grow up in.
