This installation explores the fragility of the human condition in contemporary society within an ever changing landscape.  The meaning and the functionality of ‘land’ and how it is perceived by those who live there has been challenged.  Generally speaking, land has always been recognized as home by its inhabitants.  That ‘land’ being a known place has always been recognized with its history that provides a physical connection along with spiritual, social and cultural connections which facilitate a sense of memory and identity.

Rosemarie Chiarlone (b. 1951, Philadelphia, PA) has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows nationally and internationally.  Her works are included in notable public and private collections, including the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; The Center for Book Arts, New York, NY; Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT; Ruth and Marvin Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA; and the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Florida, among others.  Chiarlone received The Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award and was a nominee for the Joan Mitchell Fellowship (2020). She was awarded residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT, Deering Estate, Miami, FL, and Oolite Arts (formerly ArtCenter/South Florida) Miami, FL.  Chiarlone studied at The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and Florida International University receiving a BFA and MS.  She lives and works in Miami, Florida.

The actual as well as the perceived meaning and value of ‘land’ is altered when that land is seized for investment opportunities by wealthy landowners or developers claiming to “improve or modernize the area”.  It is permeated with a feeling of sovereignty and jurisdiction while people who are displaced experience a loss of connectedness. Neighborhoods on that ‘land’ who once had a clearly defined identity cease to exist.