To shed is to remove a layer/skin/surface; discard the old or unwanted; to fall to the ground.
Using “shed” as the archetype and action for this work, home is explored in the space between the body and its (architectural) surroundings. This project begins along the exterior of buildings in Manhattan [1] (the artist’s original home) and moves into the realm of the domestic, away from the pedestrian wanderings of the city into the interiors of a new architectural space. In celebration of her second anniversary in Austin, the artist will use the vernacular of interior (surface) architecture, its articulation, and subsequent decoration, to make herself at home.
Nicole Vlado is an artist, architect/designer and third generation non‐driver from New York City. She creates prints, sculpture, and performance pieces and her work has been exhibited at Anja Hitzenberger’s Changing Room and Medialia Gallery in New York City, as well as Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Tijuana, Mexico. She lives and works in Austin.
1. As the body seeks to create comfort within the city, it engages the surfaces of the city and attempts to transform them into spaces of the home. The city’s inhabitants seek refuge along the surfaces of the city, leaning and resting their bodies on its exterior architecture. Through the continued use of these surfaces: stoops; sidewalks; facades, their infrastructure and decoration become the sites/containers of domestic occupation. Surfaces within the city display evidence of prior use. At times, something quite tangible is left behind: an empty bottle, cigarette butts; at other times, this evidence is nearly invisible and lies mainly within the memory of the occupant within their [re]collection of those places.
Although the occupation of these surfaces is temporary, the body begins to leave its impression throughout the city. While appearing quite durable, these concrete, stone, and metal surfaces undergo transformations through constant use: cracks in the sidewalk, peeling paint, rust, dried chewing gum stains, the smoothing of stone steps; each expresses a pattern of surface habitation.
