Sabrina Spurlock '20 | Senior Capstone Exhibition

Sabrina Spurlock '20 is a featured artist in the 2020 Senior Capstone Exhibition, a virtual gallery showing that represents the culmination of four years of undergraduate work that ends in a yearlong art project created by graduating art students.

"Safe Space"

The city of Las Vegas is known for its gambling, entertainment, and nightlife; and the home of the deadliest mass shooting in modern history. Fifty-eight people lost their lives on October 1, 2017.

"...I explore the duality of home and the irony of a 'safe space.'"
—Sabrina Spurlock '20

I knew four of those people, one of them being my childhood friend. Las Vegas was my home for eighteen years, and after that event, my perception of where I grew up and my memories around it permanently changed.

By juxtaposing two opposing ideas of home, I question the ideas of security and safety and what that looks like when home, something so sacred and intimate, is tainted with trauma.

With this work, a projection shines on a soft duvet, draped across the walls. The projection plays a collection of my childhood videos and friends’ cell phone footage from that October event. Just like our own memories, these snippets of time are distorted into an indistinguishable disarray. The distortion allows the viewers to feel unsettled about what is happening, and question the reality of the moments being displayed. By being isolated in the room, the viewers have an experience similar to my own consciousness.

With this work, I explore the duality of home and the irony of a “safe space.” What does it mean to be home? What happens when that home is disrupted?

—Artist Statement, Sabrina Spurlock '20