Gallery II
Lisa Olson : "The Children's Home "
The work in this installation came from one of my personal interests, the psychology of a child placed away from home life and into an institution. This had been my grandmother’s story, and when she later talked of those years, of the “home” and its matron, it was always with a mix of emotions—affectionate nostalgia and unmistakable bitterness.
As I looked into literature about early 20th-century orphanages and came across many primary sources written from a caregivers’ perspective, I also began to wonder about the psychology of the adults who worked with these children and the complex emotional relationships that must have developed between the two.
How does one who takes the job of caring for a displaced child balance the tangle of necessary distanced authority and personal emotional involvement? Perhaps no amount of well-intentioned organization or care could prevent what the child must have felt: loss, fear, grief, loneliness, isolation, regimentation and confusion. These are issues that I address with this body of work.
Sugar of Milk, Sugar of Lead considers the intertwined psychologies of child and caregiver.
Child Keeper addresses the idea of individuality in the midst of congregate institutionalization.
The various Transitional Objects address emotional relationships to objects, place and people that make up a “home.”
Lisa Olson
