Tyler Mitchell’s first museum exhibition, Domestic Imaginaries, is now open at the SCAD Museum of Art. This is Mitchell’s first exhibit and he’s happy to be hosting it in none other than his home state. Mitchell, originally from Atlanta, came to SCAD to talk to fellow young aspiring artists of all kinds to take a peek into his mind with this new work. “This show features a new laundry line installation which zig-zags down the nearly 300 foot length of the gallery and newly completed Altar sculptures which take after historical furniture shapes” he says in his instagram post.
Throughout the show questions came up about where to find the inspiration of pieces or motifs and he didn’t have an overall clear answer but mentioned for this exhibit that he was able to see the space before hand and immediately thought of a laundry line, and how inspired he was about his life in atlanta and the luxury of having a greenspace to go to, unlike much of new york. Mitchell also thought deeply of what fabric meant to him and how the fabric is a storytelling device itself, the color, the texture, it’s a portal experience and memory for him. He mentions the luxury once again of having free time and availability of outdoor spaces.
Mitchell is very intentional with his works, and he wants people to look at this psychological aspect of a piece rather than thinking about, “who is in this photo?” “where was this taken?” The looser and less emphasis you put on technique the better, he says. “So go check out the exhibit, look deeper into the artworks themselves.”
Words & photos by Annie Cater.