1971

Encaustic painting on wood

30 cm x 30 cm

June 1971, Gainesville Florida. A trailer park close to campus on Archer Road, with a view of a lake – Dad bought the trailer and the lot. He planted marigolds along the front of the house because someone gave him free seeds. It was more a pond than a lake, and was behind Mt Vernon apartments. Behind the house was the US agricultural fields. Dad used to climb the fence and pick field corn to eat.

This was the house my parents lived in when I was born. I don’t remember it at all, it only exists in my parents’ memories. I have a couple of photos that show it but I wanted the image to be indicative of someone else’s memory. It’s supposed to be vague. Even the marigolds didn’t seem right to include because I don’t remember them. I’d like to think there were alligators nearby, and that influenced the landscape around the house. It just needed to seem like Florida.