This new body of work made for Vrienden v/h S.M.A.K Museum, Ghent and Geukens De Vil, Antwerp is born out of a reaction to the 2020 lockdown. The research spans from antiquity to the contemporary day in search of individuals who have devoted themselves to their homes and gardens as a place of self expression and solace. The work takes the use of Larariums in ancient Rome as its source. These wall mounted structures acted as shrines to the domestic deities and guardian spirits thought to have watched over the day to day life of a household.

Ward has adopted this gesture to create a series of ode to works dedicated to his pick of ‘home
makers’ found throughout history and contemporary culture. Each work has been made with an assemblage of materials chosen to reflect the nuances and idiosyncrasies of the individual and the spaces they have built, tweaked, decorated and mused upon. It is a body of work which hopes to applaud the endeavour to care for and maintain our immediate surroundings, and to consider the ancient and enduring need to say ‘I Was Here’.

Artists: Finbar Ward