No Place Like Home takes inspiration from Dorothy Gale’s exclamation “Oh Aunty Em, there’s no
place like home!” upon returning from her adventure through Oz. Dorothy realises that the lure of
magic and adventure in far away wonderlands cannot replace the comfort and familiarity of home.
However, my series explores how home itself can become a fantasy, namely the memory of home, and what happens when the feeling of being at home changes.
Photographed in an imaginary doll’s house, the series’ setting becomes a repository for feelings
of loss and estrangement: growing distance from the home of the past and a subsequent
disconnection from the self. A fight to control that which is slipping away, to cling onto the past
self, is expressed through the imagined escape back to the childhood doll’s house, where, as
children, we were able to control all aspects of a doll’s environment and surroundings.
However, these miniature domestic surroundings also served to instruct young girls on their future expected roles within the household. The two characters in the series then enact the battle between fantasy and reality inherent within the doll’s house: a desire to take comfort in the familiar home of the past self either recognises or wilfully ignores such an escape’s futility that inevitably returns to the claustrophobic inherited roles of womanhood. Such a battle ultimately leaves a greater sense of loss, displacing the present self further from that which is familiar, as home cannot be returned to: it doesn’t exist anymore, viewed now through a lens that is no longer rose-tinted.
Author biography
Vicky Martin is an award winning British photographer with a background in art and design. She is best known for her conceptual portraits depicting the conflict between themes of fantasy and reality as well as strength and vulnerability, especially in relation to the female experience.
Vicky intertwines her created characters with staged realities, which seek to convey the tension and conflicts found within the self. Using the lens of strong female characters, she explores such themes of conflict, including: conformity to stereotypical, societal expectations of femininity, rebellion against traditional female roles, vulnerability, self-doubt, courage, and tenacity. Whilst all her works contribute to the narrative framework developed across her series', they also each depict an element of ambiguity that the viewer is invited to interpret in relation to themselves and their unique perception of the world.
Vicky's work has been widely published and exhibited nationally and internationally, from Europe to the USA in solo and group shows and her work continues to garner awards and nominations which include, Portrait Photographer of The Year 2020 Minimalist Photography Awards, Winner Beauty/Fashion Chromatic Awards 2018, Winner Single Fine Art 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards 2018 and Winner Fine Art Series Fine Art Photography Awards 2016.