Sabine Schmidt Photography Exhibit at Mullins Library

“Carver Monument Walkway” by Sabine Schmidt

“Early House in Doorway” by Sabine Schmidt

“Taped House, Pine Bluff” by Sabine Schmidt

“We Buy Houses, Tulsa” by Sabine Schmidt

Photo Submitted

Sabine Schmidt

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Sabine Schmidt explores the relationship between people and built space in “Set My Watch against the City Clock,” a photography exhibit on display in the lobby area of Mullins Library through the end of May.

After photographing buildings in various states of use across the United States and abroad, Schmidt began to reevaluate how humans create, destroy and remember built space. She observed that structures that “house” people share visual and functional elements. The exhibit invites viewers to reflect on houses as objects and ideas.

“A house provides shelter but also a sense of home,” said Schmidt. “Houses appear in dreams and serve as metaphors for the human soul. Purchasing one is a milestone; losing one can be catastrophic.”

Schmidt built miniature houses, mostly out of paper, and placed them in various environments in order to explore the familiar features of built space out of context. Using light and other objects, such as suitcases, Schmidt creates tension between object and location that is intended to elicit thoughts on place and belonging.

Schmidt is an award-winning photographer, writer and translator. She has translated books by Wynton Marsalis and Henry Chancellor and regularly translates for the German edition of National Geographic. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications in the United States and Germany. Originally from Germany, Schmidt lives in Fayetteville and teaches English and German at Haas Hall Academy, a public secondary charter school. She serves as a board member of the Fayetteville Underground and is a member of the Kansas City Artists Coalition. She is listed with the Arkansas Arts Council Artist Registry, the Arkansas State Committee Registry of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Eureka Springs Artists Registry.