Dislocated Memories, 2017
Dislocated Memories features three installations that explore Julie Gautier-Downes’ fractured relationship with home. In the namesake installation of this solo exhibition, Dislocated Memories, Gautier-Downes has constructed a freestanding room; which serves as a surrogate for her childhood bedroom, the room where she slept until she was eleven. In the room, she has assembled objects and furniture that resemble those she remembers. The goal of this installation was not about creating an exact replica of the room, but rather a space that resonates with her memories of that environment. Gautier-Downes received a GAP 2016 Grant funding for Dislocated Memories from the Artist Trust.
Also on view in this exhibition are two installations that Gautier-Downes created titled, “Chasseur Solitaire” and “Loose Ends.” These installations are part of her Tableaux Installation Series, previously exhibited in solo shows at the Dean Davis Photography Gallery and the Richmond Gallery in Spokane, Washington. In her Tableaux Series, the artist constructed small to mid-sized installations; which study home, trauma, and loss. Each tableau is a recreation of a space that Gautier-Downes has visited or occupied and represents a real or imagined failure. These fractured environments stand side by side in the gallery as monuments to failed relationships, lifestyles, and dreams.
