Adeline’s Portal
2013, 25’ x 10’ x 6’, glass, wood, paint, cold fusion, site specific installation for the Moses Myers House, permanent collection of Chrysler Museum of Art, VA, photo credit: Chrysler Museum of Art
In Adeline’s Portal, an unfinished, unclaimed passageway in the Moses Myer’s House of the Chrysler Museum of Art is transformed with replicas of authentic and adopted heirlooms from the family collection. This site-specific installation presents domestic objects as surrogates for stories and mortals forgotten, alluding to the idiom, “Skeletons in the Closet.”
The portal is located within the bedroom of Adeline, Moses Myers’ daughter who remained at home with her parents, accepting the role of hostess and house manager until her death in 1832. No portraits of Adeline exist; the only remaining mark of Adeline’s hand is a sampler she finished at age 7, on view above the fireplace mantel. An large scale rendition of the sampler can be found suspended within Adeline's Portal, connecting past and present.
doors closed and opened, Adeline's Portal
2013, 25’ x 10’ x 6’, glass, wood, paint, adhesive, site specific installation for the Moses Myers House, permanent collection of Chrysler Museum of Art, VA, photo credit: Chrysler Museum of Art
Viewers open the doors to the right of the fireplace, enabling each visitor to experience the portal independently
2013, 25’ x 10’ x 6’, glass, wood, paint, adhesive, site specific installation for the Moses Myers House, permanent collection of Chrysler Museum of Art, VA, photo credit: Chrysler Museum of Art
2013, 25’ x 10’ x 6’, glass, wood, paint, adhesive, site specific installation for the Moses Myers House, permanent collection of Chrysler Museum of Art, VA, photo credit: Chrysler Museum of Art
Moses Myers House, Chrysler Museum of Art
location of Adeline's Portal, a site specific installation, permanent collection of the Chrysler Museum of Art
The Moses Myers House and its collection an exceptional example of the late Federal period and the life of the Myers family. Moses Myers, an early American entrepreneur and leading citizen, built the house to accommodate his growing family and social prominence. The home passed down through several generations of the family to Norfolk mayor Barton Myers, who carried out early architectural restoration in 1892.
The Moses Myers House was one of the first brick homes built in Norfolk after the Revolutionary War, which saw most of the town leveled by British bombardment and subsequent fire. The home contains a remarkable number of furnishings original to the family.
For more information:
http://www.chrysler.org/about-the-museum/historic-houses/the-moses-myers-house/adelines-portal/