I was really pleased to have the opportunity to interview Hilary Waldron. She is a life long Chicago resident. Hilary has lived in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood since 1992 and has seen the neighborhood change a great deal in those years. Hilary lives in the home she grew up in with her mother, and says definitely feels like home. Since Hilary's mom passed away in 2006, Hilary has shared her home with a number of friends and other roommates.

In the process of doing interviews and thinking about the spaces to paint based on those interviews, it is sometimes immediately apparent what I want to paint. Sometimes, I feel uncertain, but when I listen back to interviews, it becomes immediately obvious. This was the case with Hilary. I was so moved by the way in which Hilary described her home as a container that holds our special memories. With that meaning in mind, it seemed extra special to make a painting of the spice rack, which was a letter press box that belonged to Hilary’s mother. It a physical container for things: spices, but also special do-dads and collectibles and quite a nice metaphor for home as a place to contain our things, but also our memories. Thanks for stopping by!

Special thanks to Stefano Vita for use of his music in the audio recording.