To be home is to find a place where one can be comfortable in their own vulnerability, and cultivating that environment takes dedicated effort and love, often by the hands of women. Highlighting the beauty of the house, how it feels to belong, and what it means to create a space of rest and comfort, Homecoming utilizes materials traditionally seen as unworthy and crafty, celebrating their potential utility in contemporary art. Through soft fabric, quilting and other methods of feminine craft, Homecoming is able to touch on the everyday domestic labor of women in an effort to provide for those around them, making viewers reconsider the passion and dedication that goes into creating a space for others to live comfortably in. 

The amount of love and attention that goes into maintaining both homes and cloth is often overlooked - and when it is scrutinized, it is commonly under the guise of being “women’s work”. In this sense, “women’s work” is meant to be derogatory and flippant, ignoring the arduous tasks that go into them. Every stitch, every snip of cloth, every effort into making a house a home, is a testament to the strength and dedication of those who perform the tasks - and more often than not, those tasks are delegated to non-men. The fiber houses in this exhibit allow for a more freeing view of what is art versus craft, why the world has decided there is a distinction between the two, and how it is affected by the maker and the subject. 

By combining stitching and homemaking, Homecoming allows for a reclamation of tasks that are seen as “less than” because of their relationship to femininity. These homes instead provide a place of community, of belonging, of contextualization - they serve as the basis for embracing tenderness and delicacy to transform the harshness of the day-to-day. It raises into question why something is considered craft rather than art, and how the hierarchy of fine art serves to lessen the value of works that maintain softness. Once the domicile is brought into the white-walled gallery, there is a breakdown in the tradition of what is considered worthy of display, transforming the gallery into a comfortable neighborhood of quilts made of love. Everyone is offered a place of refuge, safety and warmth, and is invited to ask themselves what it means to belong somewhere and how that state of belonging is achieved.