The House of Mourning

LOCATION: Truss House - 3400 Arkins Ct

CATEGORIES: Art Events | Art Events

UPCOMING DATE AND TIME:

• Fri, Dec 19, 2025 - Sat, Dec 20, 2025  

This two-day art exhibition and performance begins with the acknowledgment of a paradox: grief is both universal and deeply personal. Everyone experiences loss. Yet we're often left without adequate spaces to honor that experience—especially spaces that don't demand we move through mourning on someone else's timeline, that don't require religious frameworks, that welcome the full complexity of how grief actually feels.

The House of Mourning creates that space. Drawing on the visual language of mourning—including ritual, religious iconography, gothic aesthetics—the project engages these traditions through a contemporary, queer, and neurodivergent lens. We're not recreating historical practices. Instead, we're asking what secular sacred space looks like now. What rituals serve us when we can't rely on inherited belief systems? How do we honor grief's weight while remaining accessible to people from all backgrounds?

The exhibition features mixed-media works by visual artists exploring loss through visual reconstruction, expressionist gesture, assemblage, and figurative approaches. These pieces don't offer comfort or closure. They hold space for lament as a necessary precursor to healing, transcendence, and transformation. They acknowledge what medieval mourning understood: sometimes the most important thing we can do is stop and witness grief itself.

At the center of the installation, you're invited to participate by offering a simple statement of what you're mourning. Your contribution becomes part of a living, data-driven visualization and soundscape. The system doesn't just archive your words—it identifies resonances with other visitors' expressions, revealing unexpected connections between individual griefs. Your loss finds company in strangers' words. Patterns emerge that honor both the specificity of each mourning and the ways grief connects us.

The space is intentionally versatile. Friday evening offers an opening reception with music by Kawaji—contemplative electronic sounds that extend the installation's inquiry. Saturday, the exhibition continues through the afternoon before transforming into an intimate performance venue. Poets, musicians, and sound artists bring voice and embodied presence. Spoken word, experimental music, and sonic landscapes shift the space from static memorial into living ritual.

Plan for 20-40 minutes with the installation itself, longer if you attend Saturday evening's performances. Move at your own pace. Read what calls to you. Contribute if it feels right. Silence is welcomed here.

Friday, December 19, 2025
Exhibition and Opening Reception
Exhibition: doors open at 5:00 pm
Reception: 6:00 pm — 10:00 pm

Saturday, December 20, 2025
Exhibition continues with evening poetry and music performances
Exhibition: 1:00 pm — midnight
Performance: 7:00 pm — 10:00 pm