June 20, 2011 (Winchester, MA)__Sarah Malakoff creates large scale color photographs that are examinations of the home and its psychologically charged, uncanny spaces and objects.

A series of her photographs, Living Arrangements, is featured in the Atelier Gallery of the Griffin Museum June 29 through August 29. An opening reception is June 29, 7-8:30 p.m.

“My photographs are examinations of the home as both a refuge from and at times a recreation of nature,’’ Malakoff says. “In my images, architecture and furnishings appear as uncanny symbols of culture, family, and relationships to the outside world.’’

Intentionally excluding human occupants from her photographs, Malakoff says her subjects “spark curious speculation of their own. The private and personal are expressed in part by objects and signifiers which are displayed versus those which are hidden; what is allowed inside and what is kept out.’’ For example, she says, “doors and windows both frame exterior views and keep the elements at bay. Land, weather, and wildlife are ever present on the other side of the wall, even as they are brought safely inside in the form of pattern, simulation, and domesticated animals.’’ Malakoff says her photographs “speak to notions of comfort, class, and style, as well as universal attempts to control and transcend our environment.’’  There are tensions, and humor, between absence and presence, old and new, real and surreal, permanent and transient, genuine and artificial.

“The desire to resolve these tensions drives viewers to create their own narratives and imagine possible inhabitants,’’ Malakoff says.

A native of Andover, MA, Malakoff received a bachelor’s degree from Smith College in 1994 and a master’s in fine arts from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 1997.

She has had many solo exhibitions and her work is included in the collections of The deCordova Museum, Simmons College, Smith College Museum of Art, and Fidelity Investments. She lives in Boston and teaches at UMASS Dartmouth. She just received a Mass Cultural Council’s photography fellowship in May 2011.

The opening reception is June 29, 7-8:30 p.m. The public is welcome. Prior to the reception, at 6:15 p.m., Malakoff presents a talk for Griffin Museum members on her exhibit, Living Arrangements.