Both public and private, American front yards are highly visible places that become stages for self-expression and ideation. In The Front Yard, I use my own yard as a studio to construct and then photograph signs and outside decor. I mimic the ways these spaces are kept and decorated as a means to show the homeowner’s identity, class, and political affiliation. The photographs depict scenes with objects and messages meant to literally and figuratively exclude and alienate. Hand-made signs warn of uncertain dangers, pointing to a culture of fear and intimidation.
 
This work illuminates the way language is used to restrict and antagonize under the guise of free speech and morality. Words are powerful but are frequently used cavalierly without concern for their consequences. I borrow rhetoric that is often used in divisive and political ways, echoing themes of access, affiliation, and ideology. The messages are ominous yet vague, warning of an ambiguous but impending danger, echoing a theme of paranoia and fear of the status quo being overturned. 

 kept and decorated as a means to show the homeowner’s identity, class, and political affiliation. The photographs depict scenes with objects and messages meant to literally and figuratively exclude and alienate. Hand-made signs warn of uncertain dangers, pointing to a culture
of fear and intimidation.

This work illuminates the way language is used to restrict and antagonize
under the guise of free speech and morality. Words are powerful but are
frequently used cavalierly without concern for their consequences. I borrow
rhetoric that is often used in divisive and political ways, echoing themes of
access, affiliation, and ideology. The messages are ominous yet vague, warning of an ambiguous but impending danger, echoing a theme of paranoia and fear of the status quo being overturned.

oth public and private, American front yards are highly visible places that become stages for self-expression and ideation. In The Front Yard, I use my own yard as a studio to construct and then photograph signs and outside decor. I mimic the ways these spaces are 

DECEMBER 2023

Exhibition

The Front Yard