Nancy Lupo's artistic journey, as explored in her recent exhibitions and novel, delves into the complex relationship between reality and fantasy, particularly in the context of housing and domesticity. Lupo's work challenges the notion of a stable home, presenting a series of interconnected exhibitions and a novel that reflect her own experiences with itinerancy and the search for a sense of belonging.
In her novel, Meow Meow Real Estate, Lupo employs a unique narrative style, blending reality with fiction. The narrator, inspired by Lupo's own life, fantasizes about owning a dream house, yet the story remains grounded in the artist's personal experiences. This roman à clef approach adds a layer of authenticity to the narrative, as the narrator's desires and struggles mirror Lupo's own.
The novel's formal groundlessness mirrors the contemporary disorientation of finding a home. The narrator's search for an apartment is marked by successive rentals and sublets, leaving them increasingly tenuous and untethered. This theme is further explored in Lupo's sculptures at Spike Island, where she restages this disorientation and the fragility of a domicile fantasy.
One of the most striking pieces, The Enclosure, is a three-quarter-scale replica of a Victorian bay window, elongated to allow visitors to sit inside. This sculpture is a literalization of the narrator's fantasy, isolating and downsizing an original feature from the dream apartment. Lupo's use of yellow napkins in Hark creates a disorienting effect, filtering natural light and creating a sense of ambiguity. The yellow haze, reminiscent of the insomniac time of night, adds to the overall theme of tenuous immersion.
Lupo's sculptures, referred to as 'tellers', are made from layers of glue, patterned paper towels, and pearlescent paint. These sculptures are often repurposed between shows, taking on different meanings. In The Mirage, the tellers are inverted and wilted, symbolizing the narrator's failure to find a stable home. The fall leaves, made from peeled paper towels, accumulate around the tellers, creating a sense of sloughed-off skin and further emphasizing the theme of impermanence.
Lupo's work challenges the notion of a stable home, presenting a series of interconnected exhibitions and a novel that reflect her own experiences with itinerancy and the search for a sense of belonging. Her sculptures and installations create a sense of ambivalence, giftshop pathos, and thwarted majesty, giving the dream house a tenuous, precious form. If these sculptures are moorings, securing the dream to some kind of material reality, then Lupo has tied a loose and fugitive knot.
Lupo's work invites viewers to reflect on the complexities of housing and domesticity, challenging the notion of a stable home and exploring the interplay between reality and fantasy. Her unique narrative style and use of sculpture and installation create a captivating and thought-provoking experience, leaving a lasting impression on those who engage with her art.
