Front and side view of my installation, “Library of my Imagination,” 2009-2024. In the background are works by Lenore Chinn, Lucy Arai, Bernice Bing, Hisako Hibi and wire sculpture by Ruth Asawa. These women are among my artistic heroes!
My installation, Library of my Imagination, was first created for AAWAA’s Artists-in-residence at the de Young Museum in 2009. The question posed to the nine artists-in-residence and museum visitors was, “If you had a place of your own, what would it be?”
My place was a library, housing a collection of my own design and imagination. I designed the cabinet to represent my ideal library and archive and my husband, Darrel DeBoer built it! The cabinet represents a portable sanctuary that I could have where ever I go, physically or in my mind. Its contents would shift along with the subject or issues I am exploring, in my art practice and other areas of my curious life. The library would contain field guides, artifacts, mementos, maps, natural science specimens, textiles, books and other references. While unlimited information is always available online, I still like to hold objects and books in my hands, for careful observation and for inspiration. My handmade books displayed in the cabinet represent information and book forms perhaps not yet published, waiting to be explored.
In this installation at the Berkeley Art Center, the other half of the library houses a collection of AAWAA mementos to honor the organization’s 35-year history and its current amazing work in building community now and into the future. On a more personal level, it represents the wonderful abundance of relationships and inspiration I have gained from being an active AAWAA participant for many years, both as an artist and a board director.
Since its beginning in 2009, the premise of this project, a place of your own, has evolved and grown into its own organization, A Place of Her Own, under its founding director, Cynthia Tom.
I invite YOU to consider the question, “If you had a place of your own, what would it be?”
Below is a link to the Berkeley Art Center’s website page about the exhibition.