EXHIBITION
.Creating three different perspectives on the key: Self-Portrait, Group Portrait and Portrait:Beth.
Key Portraits displays my different perspectives on the key. To celebrate opening night, my Dad and I cut keys on the original key-maker transported from the Virginia Inn in Lawrence, Kansas.
.To share my original source of inspiration, I transported the family’s forty-year old key machine from Kansas to Baltimore.
Self-Portrait presents my unique personal history growing up at the family-run motel. I created a banner incorporating old family photos and installed the original key machine and various keys from the motel. The intention of Self-Portrait was to show bits and pieces of the original world that inspired me as a child.
.Top-view photographs labeled with each person's name became part of a large-scale group portrait.
I asked to photograph the keychains of various friends and family. In asking them about their keys, particular stories began to emerge: a hostel stay in Costa Rica, a bike lock key but no lock and no bike and even the original color scheme of a sorority. Each photograph of the key was taken in situ creating a mosaic of different people but no faces. The keys become an index to each person and transforms the group portrait into a study of color, form and environment.
.A series of silkscreen key silhouettes over photographs of all the places Beth's keys unlock.
After an in-depth interview about each key and what it unlocks, I went on location to document and photograph the different places. I silkscreened key silhouettes over digital photographic prints to show the link between the key and the place it opens. By pairing her description of utility and place, we get a sense of Beth’s lifestyle, use of language and who she is, without having to see her face at all.
THE COLLECTION
.Displaying the variety of form and color in keys.
The key is rich in its history, symbolism and utility. I wanted to showcase the beauty of its form through my key collection. Over one year, I harvested from friends, family and purchased them off of eBay. From floor to ceiling, 300 keys were nailed directly to the wall, organized from bright silver to dark rust.