Homes of Nostalgia

Homes of Nostalgia, 2017.
Digital inkjet prints.

Homes of Nostalgia is a series of photographic works which investigate signs and symbols of nostalgia in domestic Australian architecture. It explores local housing styles in the Sydney suburbs of Earlwood, Dulwich Hill and Marrickville, which are greatly influenced by elements of neoclassicism linked to post-war immigration.

Upon settling in, migrants and their descendants appropriated features and elements from classical Greek and Roman architecture into the design of their new dwellings and in doing so generated a particular visual style. The use of traditional elements such as balustrades, columns, balconies, architraves, porticoes, capitals and ornamentation were embellished and romanticised with improved access to resources and status. In this way, these houses are symbolic statements of their owners and are tightly linked to their identity. As symbols of nostalgia, they present the past in a new world context, where historic architectural symbolism is part of a new cultural identity.