8 Greenwood Place by Becky Suss

Becky Suss is a female artist from Philadelphia, whose intimate works question the ideas of memory and domesticity, especially as it ties to the lives of women in America. Displayed above is her work, 8 Greenwood Place from a series that explores the mutability of memory and the ways it is held in physical spaces. They also delve into the worlds children create for themselves that become the foundations for their adult selves. These can be bedrooms, lockers, or forts in the woods, but they all encapsulate the human impulse to create a space of one’s own.

8 Greenwood Street makes me feel exactly the same way as being back form holidays does. The door closes behind you and the silence of your apartment envelops you. You sigh a sigh of relief. Everything is as it used to be, as it is supposed to be.

But you are now a new you, with new impressions, new ideas, fresh tan. Your room is a museum to your pre-holiday self. It is so intimate, that it feels almost naughty to walk in on it like this. You feel that little tension, that little tinge of excitement, a tiny voyeuristic pleasure after being estranged for a week or two, and discovering your daily life again.

The same feeling comes over me when I walk into my childhood bedroom. Preserved through mum’s endless effort and my sister’s and mine ceaseless dismissive head shakes every time someone says: “Maybe we don’t need bunk beds anymore…”, this space is a time capsule that warps us straight into our childhood selves the moment our heads hit the pillows.

I like to say “Hi, home!” every time I walk in after a trip, holiday, or even a particularly long day. A habit passed down through my mum, by way of my grandmother. As if home was a living being, who needs to be appeased, connected with and romanced. And I am ready to charm its socks off, with my new impressions, new ideas and a fresh tan.