The work of Tarja WaIlius, ‘Everyday Excellence’, encouraged me to contemplate my life in remote South Australia. Having to deal with the loss of a loved one, as Tarja is, is different from my circumstances. I was wondering how my feelings relate to Tarja’s when her mother passed away and she felt orphaned, lonely, sad, left amid everyday life and having to cope with her loss.  

Despite having to cope and life going on, I am questioning how personal hardships and losses marginalise us. Is marginalisation not about dealing with feelings of being left behind and frustrations with circumstances we cannot change? Marginalisation is an uncomfortable space – it is hard to deal with, it leaves us sad, upset, irritated or unsatisfied.

Tarja’s work, with images of everyday objects, brought me some comfort, although not in the way her making processes and entanglements with familiar objects helped her work through life situations, memories, and feelings. I found comfort in the order Tarja created in her installation of familiar home objects using space and colour. The contrast of black objects against white creates a soothing rhythm along the curvy wall. The sense of order and rhythm that I connect to Tarja’s home objects signifies to me the comforts of home.

This installation addressed my subjective meanings of home and homeliness, as I currently live in an ‘in-between’ situation, tackling a tough job, and living apart from my family. Spending weekends driving from work to be with my loved ones only complicates matters further. This in-between situation results from feelings of leaving my previous ‘home’ and immigrating to Australia, fueled by the hardship of finding a job without prior Australian work experience. As a result, I now live and work in the remote Far West of South Australia, far from my family.

As individuals seeking recognition in our work and personal lives, we often fail to reflect on our personal challenges, as they are usually too hard to deal with, or we simply don’t want to face hardship. Instead, we choose to disregard these difficulties. Tarja’s installation moved me to reflect, think and accept my difficult circumstances and how important my connotations to home have become. Home is now going to be in remote South Australia — perhaps!

By Melanie Sarantou

Installation and photography by Tarja Wallius