LONDON
by Ella Duggan Have you ever wanted to create a new world for yourself? A way to escape the ever-growing scary reality of the outside world and instead create something so mad it usually only exists in dreams? Well that’s exactly what artist Stephen Wright has done to his own house...
In 1998, artist Stephen Wright began the journey of turning his home in East Dulwich into ‘The House of Dreams’. Leading up to the creation of the museum Wright had become disillusioned with the design world to which he once belonged and instead began a fascination with outsider art that shaped the rest of his career. Outsider art refers usually to the art practices of untrained artists. Although Wright himself trained at Liverpool Polytechnic he says on his website,‘ I am influenced by the spirit and freedom of outsider art’, as clearly seen in the beautiful chaos of his house.The museum is made up of five spaces including the garden,
with more spaces soon to open. Each room is coated from floor to ceiling, with every surface featuring something more abstract than the last. Some notable pieces include; The Dented Faced Doll, Teeth Moulds and Glasses, Siamese Twins, Ponytail and many more. The spaces are made up of self-made sculptures and mostly what Wright refers to as ‘found objects’, often coming from Mexico, Haiti, France and India. Some of these objects include any gifts left behind by the visitors of the museum, which the curator is always welcome to accept as it is his curiosity behind the meanings and stories of such objects that appears to spark the joys of this exhibit.
13
