Alessandra Del Gatto

This piece portrays my childhood and my definition of “home.” I made the decision to use soft textures such as blankets to create the seats of a train. This texture is aimed to convey the theme of comfort. Growing up I was constantly moving around and therefore found a comfort in doing so. My abstraction of “home” was transformed as I grasped what the simple term had truly meant for me. Hours of my life each month were spent commuting from one house to another. These train rides became a place where I was left in solitude to think, do what I desired, and build my self-awareness of my current living environments. Everything that mattered to me since then had taken place on these trains: I had discovered my aspirations for the future and fostered my love for creativity- specifically reading, writing, and drawing. My “Home” was found not within the walls of a house filled with people I had known, but for me, it was found on this way of transportation occupied by strangers. Despite how others view public transportation, it has always been somewhere I feel safe.