2014
Artists’ book and installation
Collaboration with Carley Gomez

Playing House is a non-linear narrative told through prose poetry and collage. The project comprises fifty-two cards, which can be shuffled or read in their original sequence. Each card features a poem on its face and a collage on its back. Playing House is a collection of moments from the life of the protagonist as he struggles to reconcile his past — a failed marriage, a complicated childhood, and the necessity of keeping up appearances — with his new life as an openly gay man in a tumultuous relationship. Each collage serves as a non-representational meditation on the content of its respective verse, and is created from wallpaper fragments to further reference the facade of domesticity. Through its indeterminate structure, Playing House explores the workings of memory, the influence of the past on the present, and the inadequacy of language as a means of communication. Surface, simulacra, and fragmentation connect the text, imagery, structure, and reading experience.

The precarious sculpture references 1950s suburbia and sits upon a mid-century-style writing desk, providing clues to the fragmented narrative. On the wall behind, the entire text is displayed and the collages return to their original function as wallpaper.

Carley Gomez wrote the text and executed many of the collages.