The Heart of the Matter

I’m taking the opportunity this month to shamelessly share with you some of my new art. This body of work that I’ve just begun feels a lot more topical than much of my work, which tends to be very personal and can perhaps exclude my audience at times. I don’t ever mean it to exclude anyone, I just make what wants to be made, and often times, the work that wants to be made is just for me. This new work is quite personal as well, however, I believe it’s touching on themes that may also reach a broader audience, like you!

Shelter

I decided to call this body of work the Shelter series as it relates specifically to the home and how safe we feel at home. This series also dives deeper into ideas of what kinds of things helps us to feel safe, and how strong and sturdy they are (or are not) in actuality.

In my childhood, I often struggled to distinguish the difference between the entities outside of myself that were actually dangerous, and the people, objects, and circumstances that were simply illusions of danger. When a child is in actual danger, I think they know it. There’s a survival mechanism that kicks in, and for me, it was always turned on. There were real threats to my safety and that kept me in a constant state of anxiety. However, because of this, I could also turn imaginary monsters into reality with my mind, and because I was in such a state of fear most of the time, all the real and imagined monsters just kind of merged together.

As an adult, I’m now able to pick apart those illusions and realize that there were times when I felt in danger but was really okay. Of course, there were also traumatizing times when I experienced actual danger, although thankfully, I was never harmed. But I could’ve been, and I knew it! Still, I’m fascinated by the precariousness of safety, and have begun exploring that in this body of work, often using aluminum foil and tissue paper to represent illusory structures of safety.

Shelter 1, Xerox and aluminum foil on paper, 15″ x 11″ 2024 © Libby Saylor

With the work above, I’m using aluminum foil to represent a pseudo structure in the shape of a scalloped awning. For the first ten or so years of my life I grew up in a city row home and the scalloped awning that hung over our front porch has become a symbol in much of my work. When I created the original piece, the foil structure was jutting out from the paper and overhanging as a real awning would. Part of my process for this series is to finalize each piece by smashing the formed structure, flattening it, and essentially taking away its power as a reliable form of protection. This process of building an illusion of structure with something as fragile as aluminum foil expresses all the fear and disappointment experienced when the things we think are keeping us safe are actually fragile, unsturdy, and useless in terms of protection.

I also like playing with the idea of real and imagined monsters, and the scary things we see and don’t see when we’re little. Was there really a monster in my closet, causing my little seven-year-old heart to race as I lie frozen in bed? Or, was it a pile of clothing playing tricks on my eyes in the dark?

In the image below, I’m using foil to represent the monster, instead of a study and seemingly safe structure. With this piece, it’s the monster I’m able to smash with my fingers, robbing it of its power as a comforting parent would. Smashing this structure in effect turns on the lights to reveal the harmless pile of clothing peeking out from the closet.

Shelter 7, Xerox, aluminum foil, and tissue paper on paper, 7.5″ x 11″ 2024 © Libby Saylor

Since this body of work is so new, I’m going to stop here for now, so as not to overwhelm you, or myself! I have so much more to share about this, but when I’m making new work, sometimes I’m so in it, I need a bit more time to reflect on it.

In the meantime, feel free to follow my progress on Instagram. I try to post a new reel or image every day, and below is my most played reel from this series. I do hope you enjoy!

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A post shared by Libby Saylor (@libbysaylor)

Check out my shop!

I don’t yet have this new series up in my shop because it’s so fresh and I’m not sure what I want to do with it yet. However, I have other original collages and prints available in my shop and invite you to have a browse. Thank you in advance for your support!

https://libbysaylorshop.com