Untitled

'Overton Windows' uses photographs of western Americana paintings and suburban spaces, along with construction materials like vinyl siding, to examine the narratives and systems that enforce traditions of access and control in the American West. The paintings I photograph are taken on my travels through the USA, and are found at historical societies, museums, and State Capital buildings. Each source painting illustrates the produced mythology of rugged individualism and the conquest of the American West. The suburban neighborhoods I photograph are modern-day representations of similar ideologies regarding land, ownership, and the American dream. However, instead of the vast landscapes drawn to conjure Manifest Destiny, these sites are now sprawling groups of individually owned properties. Construction materials have become strong symbols of the arc of industrial development: vinyl siding references a selective, nostalgic past, creating an economical facade to help mass-produced buildings emulate tradition. Beyond the walls used to construct the homes, fencing also creates barriers of a land marked by boundaries of ownership, of us and others, carving out insular spaces. Through a series of visual disruptions—slices, holes, bends, and collage, I seek to reveal and break down divided spaces (both physical and psychological), creating opportunities for more openness and less ownership within a community.