Tatjana Reithofer

Viele Häuser, Una Lucha (Many homes, One struggle)

Home-making has been another crucial aspect of my sculpture and installation practice. Getting settled into living here Canada was a shock to me and even more so when I had to grapple with how I identified nationally. In turn, ethnicity has also become an uncomfortable aspect to factor in whenever identity came into question.I never wanted to take ownership of the fact that I do have German and Eastern European lineage and always kept clinging onto my ties to Mexico since to me that was where home was. However, if one keeps denying a part of themselves they run the risk of these parts becoming unconscious, thus externalizing in way that may be harmful. Before I can safely go forward and unpack these tensions I feel with my identity, I must acknowledge the fact that there is tension. In the form of a home space, I put my lineage identities on display, making it the landscape where this dialogue is mythologised. Even as I feel torn on where my allegiance should lie.