Artist Statement Domestic Transformations gives voice to the multi-religious and multicultural fabric of the United States and the world, helping to promote a wider understanding of our rising religious plurality. The images serve to create an appreciation of cultural assimilation, adaptation and community formation while helping people of all faiths to see beyond the confines of their own world. The photographs gaze behind public displays of faith and tradition and into the private realm of personal reverence represented within the domestic interiors of families’ homes. The images depict the vernacular iconography of the home inhabited by diverse ethnic and cultural populations in the United States and abroad where a profound spiritual character and strong family histories are in evidence.
This comparative photographic exhibition underlines the shared systems of faith between different groups, becoming a unifying focus. The photographs explore and illuminate how this diversity intersects with the complex interplay between history, culture, spirituality, economic realities, family, and the peaceful formation of community.
In the past three decades the religious landscape of the Untied States has changed dramatically. Hindu and Buddhist temples, Islamic centers and mosques, along with a wide array of Interfaith spiritual centers can be found in virtually every corner. Evidence of this evolving demographic and emerging plurality is ample in most cities and towns across the nation.
As an example of this phenomenon, in Lowell, MA, this new plurality plays an important role in the civic life of the community. “… Over the past 30 years, Lowell’s minority population has grown from 4.1% to 43.2%. The Asian community alone has increased by 2.876% since 1980. The growing Asian population has and will continue to change the composition of Lowell and diversify the community with new culture and traditions…” - City of Lowell Master Plan, 2003
Domestic Transformations provides a comparative study including photographs of immigrant families living in urban settings in the Untied States, along with images made in their country of origin. Specifically the photographs depict domestic environments of families of South Asian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai, Indian, Afro-Caribbean, Italian, Mexican, Latin American, and other backgrounds.
While race has often been the most divisive issue facing us the past century, religious diversity in our civil lives is emerging as the greatest challenge facing us today. In this post 9/11 time, recognizing and celebrating this plurality can be difficult and filled with tension, misunderstanding, disagreement and hatred. Intolerance, mistrust and irrational fears such as Islamophobia are intensified by the lack of genuine knowledge of each other on all sides.
The photographs of Domestic Transformations introduce new neighbors to one another. Inscribed into the home’s built environment, transformed by families, is a cultural aesthetic which wordlessly embodies and defines a cultural identity. Formal depictions of families in their home environments will help viewers to question the view they have about different countries and ethnic groups providing people of different faiths with a greater understanding of one another. The photographs encourage viewers to focus on those things that make us similar, rather than those things that separate us, inspiring dialogue about global humanity while moving beyond stereotypes and allowing viewers to recognize the common ground within the diversity of the world.
The exhibition is comprised of C-Type color photographs. I print the photographs from large format negatives in the darkroom. They are available in two sizes: 30x40” and 16x20”. The exhibition may include one size or the other, or, a combination of the two. Then umber of images would be determined by the size of the space. An average commercial gallery space typically can present fifteen 30x40” images comfortably, while a larger non-profit or university setting would accommodate more. Presently this work in progress has 65 images in the portfolio.
Captions
Dana Salvo, Margaret with Home Altar, Gloucester, MA
Dana Salvo, Village Elder, Vietnam
Dana Salvo, Pilar with Ofrenda, Mexico
Dana Salvo, Twins, Vietnam
Dana Salvo, Girl with collection of dolls in bedroom, Mexico
Dana Salvo, Commemorative Shrine to ancestors with mannequin, Vietnam
Dana Salvo, Family History Wall, Lowell, MA
Dana Salvo, Wall with Icons and Doll above water pots, India
Dana Salvo, Commemorative shrine in kitchen, Vietnam
