Common Spaces of the Commonwealth

What makes a place home are the people and the places. It is these two things that generate memories, inspire us, and implant themselves into our subconscious.

Common Spaces of the Commonwealth explores man-made spaces that have been pivotal to Lexingtonians. I have spent the past year interviewing and recording conversations with people of Lexington, Kentucky about what architecture has been influential in their lives. From these interviews I have created a body of work, one for each person interviewed, based upon the space that they feel has been important in their life. These works have been tediously painted, primarily with matte paint, but in some cases with glitter, on wood panels. Under the installation of each painting lies headphones for the audience to listen to these stories.

For the interviewing process,I began with the Jenkins family patriarch, Mac, and two of his children, Frank and Molly. I am chose these individuals because they are the Lexingtonians with the deepest roots in the community that I know. I then asked them to nominate 3 people who live in the Lexington area, I asked that they try to nominate at least one person of a different socio-economic status than themselves. In total, over the course of a year I interviewed 18 citizens of Fayette County.

It is my hope that this exhibition generates a dialogue and shared experience with the people who call the Commonwealth home.

Spaceship House: Kristin Kimbrell

2019

Flashe and glitter on panel

34 x 27”

Henry Faulkners’ Lexington Home (Detail): Robert Morgan

2019

Acryla gouache and flashe on panel

24 x 12”

McDonalds’s on Nicholasville Rd. (old and new):Mac Jenkins

2019

Acryla gouache and flashe on panel

12 x 6 1/2” corner panel