Gum 2005

Julie Blackmon’s photograph, "Gum," pulls you into a world that’s both familiar and surreal, capturing the everyday chaos of childhood in a square format. I can imagine Blackmon setting up this shot, arranging the props just so—the dolls with their fixed stares, the rumpled socks hanging out of the white drawers, the child hiding behind the yellow patterned curtain with just her toes showing. She’s playing with a muted color palette, dominated by the white of the chest of drawers, juxtaposed with the pops of color from the red chair and the luggage. The arrangement feels staged, yet it hints at the unpredictable nature of kids at play. It makes me think about the paintings of Balthus, but with a twist. Where Balthus explored the darker, more enigmatic side of adolescence, Blackmon seems to find humor in the mundane and slightly absurd moments of family life. Like a painter layering brushstrokes, she constructs her images with careful consideration, inviting us to see the beauty and complexity within the disorder.