While sitting in a train from London to Brighton, two Syracuse University students studying abroad contemplated the idea of home — but not one confined by walls and ceilings. Seniors Emily Simms and Devi Penny were headed to the beach, their minds focused on an idea that would become SPACE, an art show centered around human relationships with domestic spaces.

Simms and Penny, joined by two Syracuse curators, will host Girl on Girl: SPACE, an art show revolving around domestic spaces, objects and the relationships within a home, Saturday night at Spark Contemporary Art Space.

“The concept has changed a few times, but it’s still maintained the concept of defining and replicating a comfortable safe space for people,” said Alexis Maine, senior art history major and head administrator for Girl On Girl Collective at Syracuse.

Courtesy of Girl on Girl

Girl on Girl is a group of feminist artists and curators looking to increase representation in and of art across all mediums. Established in 2012, the collective puts on an art show every semester, and artists include students and professors.

“Home” at SPACE will resemble the traditional hearth, save for some features: the set will have a living room, a kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom. However, plenty of space will be left blank in an effort to unsettle the ordinary perception of home.

Maine addressed the complexities of home depicted in the show.

“You can be like ‘I love going home, it’s a warm and sheltered space,’ but that same space can become too warm and comfortable, you never make any changes and you can become static,” she said.

As branches of the collective popped up in New York City, Detroit and Los Angeles, Girl on Girl began to join the conversation around gender equality and gender fluidity. With its growth, the collective began including men, women and any other chosen forms of self-identity. However, ignorance is not allowed.

“We have to know that you believe in gender equality and you’re not a sexist, racist, homophobic piece of sh*t,” Maine said

Last year’s show, Girl on Girl: Generation XX, focused on the cultural interactions between generations, revolving around the passing of beauty through generations. The women at Girl on Girl treat SPACE as a precursor to Generation XX.

Courtesy of Girl on Girl

Simms, a senior communications design major and creative director at Girl on Girl, partnered with Maine, and the pair took the art show to a creative place it hadn’t been before.

“We have completely amplified it because we didn’t want to be a one-trick pony,” explained Maine. “We wanted to be like ‘watch what we can do. Watch this whole range of things that can go down.’”

Not only does the exhibit incorporate painting, plants, jewelry, and video, among other mediums, but also a diverse range of ideas.

“Me being able to bring that sensibility to what they have to offer in terms of their knowledge of artists and their connections — all of our ideas blend beautifully,” Simms said.

SPACE will also add a new element to its agenda this Saturday: a zine with works from 24 artists circulating around the venue. The zine, named “Object,” will be making its rounds around the space.

These 24 artists are part of more than 30 featured in the show. Suspense surrounds their work: the audience will not get so much as a glimpse until the day of the event — and neither will the women hosting the collective. With only progress reports from artists, Girl on Girl will rely on their knowledge of the space and of the artists’ progress to set up their “home.”

Courtesy of Girl on Girl

Emily Vey Duke, an associate professor in Transmedia at the school of Visual and Performing Arts and faculty advisor for Girl on Girl, agreed that Spark will be a fascinating space to work with.

“It’ll be a weird, perhaps creepy, sometimes beautiful house in the art space Spark,” said Duke. “It’s kind of a grungy little art space that has been operated by students at SU for at least 10 years.”

And over these years, Girl on Girl has endeavored to make their two core values of the highest standard: diversity and equality.

With everything going on in the world today, Simms said there is a better understanding of diversity. She, along with the other women of Girl on Girl, hope for ever-increasing inclusivity in the art scene.

“It’s a different conversation and a different way of thinking,” Simms said. “We have a really long way to go, but where we are now is a lot better than where we were.”

Published on November 9, 2016 at 9:00 pm

Contact: dmurthy@syr.edu