Taking Up Space is a visual extension of my simple interests. My close friends will hear me talk about the houses we pass and how I would love to see the inside in order to see how someone decides to take control of their space. I have always viewed rooms and homes as expansions of ourselves. It is a place to be vulnerable and, for many, a place of comfort and solitude. The origins of this project started by simply documenting a person in their room but transformed into experiencing that unique space with that person.

When I studied abroad in Tokyo, Japan in 2023, it was my goal to migrate this project overseas. In the end, I was able to travel throughout the country to create portraits for this series. Implementing Julia Cameron’s Artist’s Date exercise into my schedule was a requirement of my time abroad. This lead me to meet a local cafe and gallery owner at Kamikawa House in Kodaira, Tokyo where I exhibited Taking Up Space for the first time.