Renowned photographer Deborah Willis didn’t expect to develop an exhibition from her workshop at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center last summer.
But her students found plenty of inspiration in the session, titled “Home: Reimagining Interiority.” The focus of the workshop — identity, self-reflection, family and a sense of place — is now the premise of “Home Reimaginings,” showcased through May 28 at the ranch in Snowmass Village.
Willis, who co-curated the show with workshop participant Tara Bryan, described the exhibition as an exploration of generational stories. The photographers’ work prompted her to think about “saying yes to the past, but also embracing new ways to consider (the concept of home).”
There are also themes of “migration,” and “what we’ve taken with us,” as well as “dress, death, love, (and) our own bodies,” Willis said.
One artist documented his own children in museum spaces; others focused on clothing that evoked memories of grandparents’ closets, or on images from their family’s archives. Willis considered her own mother’s legacy and connected with another artist who explored childbirth in their work.
“I really believe that the experience of identity was born through family,” Willis said.
Willis explained that the exhibition also examines the every-day elements of a home’s environment, such as food, flowers and newspapers.
“These are the moments that I felt were really important — that we could think about … the impact that all of it has had in telling stories about the self,” Willis said.
Anderson Ranch will host a closing reception for “Home Reimaginings” at the Patton-Malott Gallery on May 28 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. In June, the exhibition will head to the selective Photoville festival in Brooklyn, where it will be presented among 85 free exhibitions throughout the city.
