Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 2

Krista Svalbonas
Spakenberg 1, Laser cut archival pigment ink print, signed, numbered, framed

2019

About the Item

Spakenberg 1, Laser cut archival pigment ink print, signed, numbered, framed Ideas of home and dislocation have always been compelling to me as the child of immigrant parents who arrived in the United States as refugees. Born in Latvia and Lithuania, my parents spent many years after the end of World War II in displaced-person camps in Germany before they were allowed to emigrate to the United States. In this series, I set out to retrace and re-imagine that history. My family’s displacement is part of a long history of uprooted peoples for whom the idea of “home” is undermined by political agendas beyond their control. My parents’ childhood homes were impersonal structures appropriated from other civilian and military uses to house thousands of postwar refugees. They had always described this housing as temporary; I never expected to see these buildings myself. But after intensive archival research, I was able to locate, visit, and photograph many of the actual buildings on the sites of former DP camps in Germany. Today, the buildings give no hint of the tumultuous lives of the postwar refugees, stuck in stateless limbo with no idea what the future held. To better understand and honor their struggles, I turned to archived copies of the plea letters the Baltic refugees sent to the governments of the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Page after page, they beg for food, bedding, and medical supplies, and attempt to explain the dire fate that would await them if they were repatriated to the Soviet Union. I merge these painful accounts with the photographs through a process of burning, an echo of the traumas of war the refugees had endured. The words of the refugees now form the complete image. Eventually made entirely of lace-like text, the buildings grow fragile, inseparable from the precarious lives they housed. A composite of my own experience and the fading memories of my parents and their generation, each of these layered pieces becomes a puzzle I am struggling to complete before this near-forgotten history is lost forever.
  • Creator:
    Krista Svalbonas (1977, American)
  • Creation Year:
    2019
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 8 in (20.32 cm)Width: 10 in (25.4 cm)
  • More Editions & Sizes:
    8x10", Edition of 2Price: $900
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Sante Fe, NM
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU134210145602

More From This Seller

View All
Twelve Clouds, Softly, Slowly (F)
By Kate Breakey
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Artist Statement For me, an artistic process is an act of investigation – a passionate attempt to establish an understanding of the natural world – a version that incorporates both i...
Category

2010s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Pastel, Pencil, Archival Pigment

Twelve Clouds, Softly, Slowly (L)
By Kate Breakey
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Artist Statement For me, an artistic process is an act of investigation – a passionate attempt to establish an understanding of the natural world – a version that incorporates both i...
Category

2010s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Pastel, Pencil, Archival Pigment

Twelve Clouds, Softly, Slowly (E)
By Kate Breakey
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Artist Statement For me, an artistic process is an act of investigation – a passionate attempt to establish an understanding of the natural world – a version that incorporates both i...
Category

2010s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Pastel, Pencil, Archival Pigment

D Twelve Clouds, Softly, Slowly
By Kate Breakey
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Artist Statement For me, an artistic process is an act of investigation – a passionate attempt to establish an understanding of the natural world – a version that incorporates both i...
Category

2010s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

A Twelve Clouds, Softly, Slowly
By Kate Breakey
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Artist Statement For me, an artistic process is an act of investigation – a passionate attempt to establish an understanding of the natural world – a version that incorporates both i...
Category

2010s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Twelve Clouds, Softly, Slowly (I)
By Kate Breakey
Located in Sante Fe, NM
Artist Statement For me, an artistic process is an act of investigation – a passionate attempt to establish an understanding of the natural world – a version that incorporates both i...
Category

2010s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Pastel, Pencil, Archival Pigment

You May Also Like

Natalie Wood in Coat for "The Great Race"
Located in Austin, TX
This stunning black and white portrait features Natalie Wood smiling in a heavy coat for her role in "The Great Race". Natalie Wood was an American-Russian actress. She began her ca...
Category

1960s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Lucille Ball: Glamour in Fur
By Ray Jones
Located in Austin, TX
Stunning and glamorous image of Lucille Ball in fur.Lucille Ball was an American actress, comedian, model, film-studio executive, and producer. She was the star of the self-produced ...
Category

1940s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Grace Kelly, Prince Rainier, and Their Children in the Snow
Located in Austin, TX
Black and white candid capture of Prince Rainer, Grace Kelly, and their children playing in the snow in Switzerland, circa 1959. What's included: - Limited Edition Archival Print - ...
Category

1950s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Bette Davis in "Dark Victory"
By George Hurrell
Located in Austin, TX
Black and white capture of actress Bette Davis in a fur coat for her role in "Dark Victory", circa 1939. What's included: - Limited Edition Archival Print - Numbered Certificate of ...
Category

1930s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Ginger Rogers in Fur Coat
By Bud Fraker
Located in Austin, TX
Black and white studio portrait of Ginger Rogers in a fur coat, circa 1953. Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an A...
Category

1950s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Barbara Stanwyck in Fur Stole
By Ernest Bachrach
Located in Austin, TX
Black and white capture of actress Barbara Stanwyck in fur stole. Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year...
Category

1930s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Recently Viewed

View All