Family Matters
Family Matters
Aug 21, 2023 to Nov 9, 2023
Location: Huntley GalleryPress the tab key to view the content. Use the down arrow key to move to the next tab and up arrow key to move to the previous.
Family Matters incorporates memory, metaphor and allegory to express the challenges, burdens and joys of an artist’s role as daughter and caretaker of her elderly parents. When her parents faced a daunting move into assisted living, they were struggling after a series of strokes with memory loss and the decline of their cognitive abilities.
Using childhood possessions, and simple items that had been in the family for years, Jane Szabo creates tableaus that hint at complicated family dynamics. The presentation of these objects is not merely a catalog of possessions, but a catalog of feelings: pain and disappointment, burden and loss, memory and hope.
Saturday, October 14, 2023, 2-4 pm
Family Matters | Artist Reception
Join us on Sat., October 14th, 2-4 pm for our Artist Reception at the Huntley Art Gallery! Register on Eventbrite here or scan the QR code.
Curatorial Statement
Family Matters incorporates memory, metaphor and allegory to express the challenges, burdens and joys of the artist’s role as daughter, and caretaker, of her elderly parents. After faced with a daunting move into assisted living Jane Szabo’s mother and father had recently struggled, after a series of strokes, with memory loss and the decline of their cognitive abilities. This series of fine art photography uses objects gathered from their family home to tell the story of her role within her family.
After moving her 86-year-old father and 91-year-old mother into an assisted living apartment, she began organizing the contents of their home. When they left, they walked out the front door of their home of 36 years, with barely a glance behind them, leaving unopened mail on the table, and `their daughter behind, to sort through the chaos. Over the months, Szabo returned to make the final selection of which treasures she would keep, and to tie up all the loose ends before putting their family home on the market.
Family Matters uses objects from their home, and her childhood, staged as still-lives, to illustrate the story of their relationship. Using childhood possessions, and simple items that have been in her family for years, Szabo creates tableaus that hint at a plethora of complicated family dynamics. The presentation of these objects is not merely a cataloging of possessions, but an archive of feelings of pain and disappointment, burden and loss, memory and hope.
The challenge of assisting parents who lived 1000 miles away changed her life drastically. Working through these feelings in this project helped Szabo unravel, and resolve, many issues that she was unable to confront about her family’s past. Though seeing her parents age and decline was extremely difficult, the artist recognizes the what is given to her through this process, and the gift to be able to be a significant part of this transitive and impactful part of life’s inevitable circle.
This exhibition is done in memory of Jane Szabo’s mother Helen (1925-2019) and her father William (1930-2021).
The Huntley Gallery and Cal Poly Pomona welcome Jane Szabo for her contribution to the campus community through her thoughtful expression and poignant point-of-view that can be understood and appreciated by all who experience this body of work.
Artist's Biography:
About Jane Szabo
Portrait of Jane Szabo
Photo credit: Laurie Freitag
Los Angeles-based conceptual artist Jane Szabo merges a love for fabrication and materials with visceral photographic images. Using hand-made constructions, self-portraiture, and still life, she shares stories that explore her personal experiences through an astonishing lens of self-exploration and identity. Szabo’s background creating props, miniatures and in set construction for the film and amusement industry infuses her creative process.
Widely exhibited in both solo and group shows, her work has been shown at the Museum of Art & History in Lancaster, California, where it is included in the permanent collection. She was commissioned to create a series of environmental portraits for the museum in 2019, the social
engagement project #countmein, funded by the California Arts Council and the California Community Foundation. The museum acquired 71 images from this project for its collection. Her art is also a part of the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Arte al Limite in Santiago, Chile, Centro de Arte Faro Cabo Mayor in Santander, Spain, and in private collections throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Szabo’s work has been exhibited in solo shows at The Danforth Art Museum, The Griffin Museum of Photography, Foto Relevance Gallery in Houston, TX, the John Wayne Orange County Airport, the Museum of Art & History in Lancaster, CA, Foto Museum Casa Coyoacán in Mexico City, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, the Yuma Fine Art Center in Arizona, and the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art.
Among many other locations, Szabo’s work has been shown in group exhibitions at the Spartanburg Art Museum, Oceanside Museum of Art, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, The Brand Library Gallery, The Colorado Center for Photographic Arts, Photo LA, The LA Art Fair, San Diego Art Institute, Los Angeles Center for Photography, the Kaohsiung International Photographer Exhibition in Taiwan, and Foto Fever in Paris, France.
Szabo’s photographs have been featured in publications and blogs such as The Huffington Post, Shadow & Light Magazine, Arte al Limite, Lenscratch, Mono Chroma Magazine, Silvershotz, Bokeh Bokeh, L’Oeil de la Photographie, Catalyst Interviews, F-Stop Magazine, Foto Relevance, Fraction, Your Daily Photo, A Photo Editor, Don't Take Pictures, Art & Cake, Diversions LA, Women Eco Arts Dialog, and more.
Jane Szabo holds an MFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
Installation Views
Installation View, Entrance of Gallery, Family Matters, Aug. 21 to Nov. 9, 2023.
Installation View, Family Matters, Aug. 21 to Nov. 9, 2023.
Installation View, Family Matters, Aug. 21 to Nov. 9, 2023.
Installation View, Center-Right Gallery, Family Matters, Aug. 21 to Nov. 9, 2023.
Installation View, Back Gallery, Family Matters, Aug. 21 to Nov. 9, 2023.
Installation View, Right-Back Gallery, Family Matters, Aug. 21 to Nov. 9, 2023.
Installation View, West Gallery, Family Matters, Aug. 21 to Nov. 9, 2023.
Installation View, West Gallery, Family Matters, Aug. 21 to Nov. 9, 2023.
Installation View, East Gallery, Family Matters, Aug. 21 to Nov. 9, 2023.
Reception Photos
Coming soon!
Join us for reception on October 14, 2-4pm.
Exhibited Works
Exhibited Works
Adrift
Burden
Don’t Forget
Fortitude
I Didn’t Know
I Wish It Weren’t So
Knotted
Leap of Faith
Loss
Lost and Found
The Old Man and The Sea
Once Upon A Time
Quitter
Regret
Scarlet A
Secrets
Sibling Rivalry #2
Sink or Float
Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice
Table Manners
The Last Act
The Way Things Were
Things Come Undone
Touch
Unplugged
You are Here
Family Matters: Walkthrough
Family Matters incorporates memory, metaphor and allegory to express the challenges, burdens and joys of an artist’s role as daughter and caretaker of her elderly parents. When her parents faced a daunting move into assisted living, they were struggling after a series of strokes with memory loss and the decline of their cognitive abilities.
Using childhood possessions, and simple items that had been in the family for years, Jane Szabo creates tableaus that hint at complicated family dynamics. The presentation of these objects is not merely a catalog of possessions, but a catalog of feelings: pain and disappointment, burden and loss, memory and hope.
Please click on our YouTube Reception Video for more information about the artist and the exhibition