Elizabeth Buchta
California Institute of the Arts

Domestic Interiors

Biography: Elizabeth Buchta is a graduate in graphic design from California Institute of the Arts. In a characteristically bold move, she has decided to turn her back on LA and relocate to Ireland. She is a talented communicator with an interest in book design with a strong desire to work. So if you know any designers in Cork or Dublin, she requests that you pass along her regards and her website (www. rootshine.com) or email her directly at brushyourteeth@mac.com.

Objective: I lost both my grandmother and a very close friend this year. My grandmother died peacefully. My friend killed herself by jumping out of a window. While I was working through this, I started to realize just how deeply we (Americans in particular) deny the fact of our deaths, so much so that some people avoid living. We take our bodies and our health for granted. In this series I was imagining rooms where we might be subtly reminded of our mortality and of the very special and unique biology that allows us to function. The wallpaper is created from drawings and photographs of various levels of that biology, from cells to bones and whole organs. The paper is a covering that suggests skin. The rooms become wombs or other dark cavities. You can imagine yourself inhabiting yourself. The home as a momento mori. This series is part of a much larger project, which deals with other aspects of death and domesticity.

Tools used: The patterns were designed and manipulated in Adobe® Photoshop®. Once I had the pattern, I applied the “paper” to the walls of rooms I had photographed.