Katherine Sepúlveda | Halloween House

Inspired by the Connecticut neighborhood where the artist was raised, and which is undergoing rapid gentrification, Katherine Sepúlveda’s Sunroom installation Halloween House is informed by personal narratives, family archives, and Catholic devotional imagery. The installation examines the way that consumption patterns of low-income individuals, many of whom work as domestic laborers in communities such as Riverdale, are subject to scrutiny. The taupe siding and linen white features reminiscent of metropolitan suburban homes belie the possessions left in the tenant's wake: a display of handmade and found imagery and decor. Devotional objects, Americana, Colombian artisan crafts, empty liquor bottles, unopened medical bills, discarded cigarettes, cereal boxes and loose cash fill the house along with family portraits, children’s drawings and toys. Sepúlveda’s intentionally maximalist Latinx aesthetics insert a vibrational heritage and historical imprint on this imagined former home, masquerading as an icon of the American Dream that is built on segregation, individualism, alienation and grief.

Organized by Curator of Visual Arts Rachel Raphaela Gugelberger, the Sunroom Project Space is an open call opportunity for New York-area artists to develop and exhibit a site-specific project as a solo show. The 2024 applications were reviewed by a panel of arts professionals including Kiara Cristina Ventura, writer, curator and founder of the roving curatorial platform Processa; Jacq Groves, 2023 Sunroom Project Space interdisciplinary artist and educator; and Gugelberger.