Custom Built

Beginning in the 1950s the American middle class exploded and the nation struggled to house the growing, young families. Inspired by manufacturing processes, fabricated neighborhoods began to pop up, offering homes that assembled quickly and efficiently to meet rising demand. The introduction of mechanization and mass production to residential construction has a profound affect on the American vernacular, which is the focus of this body of work. The series combines analog photographic tools with digital cutting technology to create images that extend beyond the two-dimensional image plane, becoming sculptural objects reacting to space and light. This work is part of an ongoing exploration of the effects of mechanized building practices on the built environment. This is the second project dealing with the manipulation of the physical surface of the photograph. I am especially fascinated with exploring different ways to articulate the photograph as an object. By cutting the paper, there becomes a space within the photograph, emphasized by the light cast upon the object. This project was completed in 2012.