Shanty House
Fiona Gillmore
28 June -1 August 2005

“One way of understanding the fluid language of “meaning” in relation to a human life is to see meaning as something to be won - often through struggle and precariously.”

R. W. Hepburn, Wonder and other essays

Shanty House is from a body of work by Fiona Gillmore that deals with the struggles we face in life - they way we try to search for meaning amidst it all. In order to go about our lives we nurture some kind of hope that we will eventually find something that we have been striving for. Gillmore is interested in where we find this hope and the imaginary realms that we disappear into in order to cope with the search to find our own place.

Shanty House is no bigger than a shoebox. It is constructed from cardboard, wood and plastic, and sits directly on the floor of the Kiosk. At night time the structure emits a flickering glow, alluding to the comfort, security and shelter we associate with home. With its banged-up, slapped-together feel Shanty House has an aura of hope - it is bittersweet and desperate. It looks like it was once a functioning house, abandoned then found again, little by little coaxed back into service. Shanty House reminds us of what we’ve got and, maybe, what we’ve lost.

Fiona Gillmore lives in Wellington. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Auckland in 2000. She has exhibited in a number of group shows at artist run spaces such as High Street Project and Enjoy as well as at Michael Lett Gallery, Auckland and Wellington City Art Gallery.