My Room Project Blurs The Boundaries Between Home And Body

by Patrick Penrose Published Nov 11, 2025

My installation “Intimate Vestiges” simulates a typical old fashioned house. It reveals the personal history of a home, making evident the small moments and memories in everyday life that are often forgotten or hidden from view. The home can be filled with good memories but it can also be inscribed with people’s worry, fears and accidents which can transform the space from comfortable and inviting to somewhat threatening and uncomfortable.

As each work forms a part of the installation, it is important that they can be read individually, close up, and as a whole from a distance. The wallpaper is a perfect example. From a distance it appears as a typical old-fashioned design but as the viewer gets closer, the finer details of the work begin to reveal themselves. I achieved this by using pattern and repetition to camouflage human textures such as eyes, mouths, hair, scars, veins, nipples and belly buttons. Those who viewed the wallpaper seemed to enjoy discovering the unexpected details.

One of the difficulties I had in creating this body of work was translating ephemeral moments and intangible notions into a physical reality but at the same time maintaining a certain amount of subtlety. “Passion Pillows” might be the most subtle of works. Some people who visited the exhibition said they had to look at the bed a few times before discovering the kissing pillows. A little subtlety is important because I like to give my viewers a sense of discovery and surprise. I think that is what a real home is like.

More info: fiona-roberts.com