Artist Statement
Everything's Fine Here is an ongoing series that examines the annual one-week ritual of spring-cleaning in an upper middle class suburban neighborhood. Growing up and participating in this event, I have been tracking this tradition for several years. The images depict the neighborhood as I find it during this week – mounds of ordinary household items, discarded and anonymous, lay at the curb creating a stark contrast between the pristine homes where they once resided. Salvagers and treasure seekers pick through some of the piles while other piles remain untouched by outsiders. Most items are hauled to the landfill at the end of the week.

The simple and direct photographs evoke tableaus and a temporary surreal space emerges forming a community portrait that blurs the line between public and private space. The socioeconomic implication of consumer culture, the appearance of a breakdown in the rules of decorum, and my own personal history all pull me in creating this series and leave me wondering about the façade of suburbia.

 

 

Katie Harwood (b. 1981) is a photography based contemporary artist. Often on the road and traveling by car, Katie's work investigates ideas of home and revolves around the actions of collecting and discarding. She grew up in Winnetka, IL, an idyllic Midwestern suburb, in the age of excess with a golden retriever and white picket fence. Think Ferris Bueller's Day Off or any John Hughes film. The stark contrast between the view from the outside of the house and the reality on the inside has provided rich fodder for her artistic practice. Her home served as a kind of reliquary to the families past where few items were discarded and many emotions were swept under the rug. The family divided during her formative years and the storybook home turned inside out. She uses her personal history to examine the choices people make that determine value and their relationships to home.

 

Cross-Reference