Studio Art
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Jennifer Hayes
Anchorhold
Medium: Wood, vintage linens, cast seed pods
Anchorhold is an installation that imagines the house as a vessel for memories, taking the form of a small wooden structure covered in vintage linens. Inside, casts of magnolia, pine, and sweet gum pods, black walnuts, and acorns are suspended from the ceiling by fine chains, hovering above the viewer. The piece takes its title from the medieval anchorhold, a small cell sized for one person which allows for self-imposed solitude and contemplation.
While the structure of the house is grounded and contained, the suspended forms inside resist stability, suggesting memories as something that can be held but never fully captured. The use of worn domestic fabrics and cast seed pods evokes both personal and generational histories. The tension between weight and suspension reflects how memory operates, anchoring us even as it drifts, accumulates, and reshapes itself over time.
