Gomma Photography Grant 2021
Personal History
Photographer
Sarah Malakoff
Personal History
03 Feb, 2022
«At a moment when we find ourselves more isolated and quarantined at home, my work with the psychological aspects of domestic space has taken on new relevance. In this body of work, I look closely at objects displayed within American homes that reference history and culture. These items may speak to the ancestral lineage of the occupant, a co-opting of others’ stories, or an aspirational identity. Whether paintings, photographs, or sculptures of historical figures or events, documents or books, the possessions point to a longing for connection to the past and an engagement with the world at large. Often the collections of objects underscore the privilege and power implicit in the act of collecting. The souvenirs resonate — sometimes humorously, sometimes disturbingly — with the other possessions and architecture that surround them, uneasily vacillating between heroism and kitsch, patriotism and colonialism".
About the photographer
Sarah Malakoff
Sarah Malakoff ‘s large-scale color photographs are examinations of the home as both a refuge from and a re-creation of the outside world. She has had solo exhibitions at Howard Yezerski Gallery and The Garner Center for Photography, Boston, Massachusetts, Camerawork Gallery, Portland, Oregon, The Vermont Center for Photography, Brattleboro, Vermont, the Sol Mednick Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts, and Plane Space, New York, NY. Her photographs have also been shown at The NRW Forum in Dusseldorf, Germany, The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, Massachusetts, The Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine, and The Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts. She received a 2001 and 2011 Artist’s Fellowship in Photography from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and a 2011 Traveling Fellowship from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A monograph entitled Sarah Malakoff: Second Nature was published by Charta Art Books in 2013 and includes an introduction by Linda Benedict-Jones, Curator of Photography at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh and an essay by Jen Mergel, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts and is an Associate Professor at The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
