Communal Living

As shared housing is the phenomenon and experience of most people of my generation, with few buying houses before the age of thirty. It’s nice to make some drawings to reflect on the honest relationships that play out, different experiences and the have of shared living are not always simple. Living community can go three ways: it can be isolating, it can be socially harmonious and liberating and fun, or totally overbearing with party housemates and too much stimulation. It’s not only who we live with but how we feel in ourselves. Our mindset at the time.

The work shows a bed with several housemates living on top of one another each in their own designated space looking at a problem of a leaking roof. A shared problem. the door is open and people moving in and out. Some housemates are moving their mattress away from the fault, others are trying to hide from it and pray it goes away. Two are trying to get up there and fix it. There is mess on the floor. In shared living, despite what you do, there always seems to be a sink full; this is because if there is one thing in there, another person places another thing there. 

Living in a large shared house can often feel like a revolving door with unexpected personalities coming through and changing dynamics. I have often felt about this need to socialize and have our own space. We need to feel calm and without the anxiety of others as much as we need others.