Portal of the Homely yet Magical
(2023)
The Homely yet Magical
(Answers from participants at the Domaine de Boisbuchet)
My parents' bed in their room where my younger sister and I played together
Shiny Streets in Milan
Windermere in the photobook
The Christmas tree on 25th December in my grandmother's house, which kept the sparkles from the day before
My grandfather's patio where I used to paint and draw
The graveyard covered with white and pink wildflowers
The tree house in the backyard where I spent a lot of time in my childhood
The smell of my grandmother's house
The backyard of my grandfather's house where my only sibling - my cousin - and I used to play
The pine tree forest near the beach which smells like salt
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Photos by Leidy Karina Gómez Montoya
<The Portal of the Homely yet Magical> is a project of creating new signs in Domaine de Boisbuchet, a commune of designers, architects, and creators, in Lessac, France.
Instead of using the pre-existing signposts such as arrows, fences, and road signs with names of small towns nearby, the artist intended to make a sign that could open up a new space-time which can be explored, imagined, and remembered by individuals. This work, next to the pathway to a forest, which guides them to an open field, allows visitors to imagine their own homely yet magical space-time: cherished memories, nostalgia about something they have not directly experienced, and images of the future that has not arrived yet.
*This work was part of a collaborative project/workshop with a design group, The Rodina, in Amsterdam.