Inspired by the artist’s family’s immigration from Ireland and Poland in the late nineteenth century, their labor, culture, and community in Chicago’s Back of the Yards meatpacking district, and their eventual settlement in one of the nation’s first suburbs, the All That Glitters series traces the suburban trajectory of her family over time. By building and animating 3D models of domestic architecture specific to her family history, she reflects on how American ideals that evolved from the nineteenth-century European immigrant experience—coupled with a century of negligent and discriminatory suburban planning and policy—have set in motion an afflicted path for a family marked by xenophobia and unrealistic expectations of grandeur.
These works draw inspiration from author and activist Jane Jacobs, with titles that reference her critiques of suburban expansion and automobile-centric planning.
All That Glitters Series: 19th and Mather
Animated 3D Models, 1920 x 1080 HD, 2 minutes, 39 second Loop, 2023
All That Glitters Series: Mozart and San Francisco
Animated 3D Models, 1920 x 1080 HD, 2 minutes, 2 second Loop, 2025
All That Glitters Series: Togetherness
Animated 3D Models, 1920 x 1080 HD, 2 minutes, 39 second Loop, 2025
All That Glitters Series: Mozart and Cambridge
Animated 3D Models, 1920 x 1080 HD, 2 minutes, 2 second Loop, 2023
All That Glitters Series: Mather Lane
The score for this short film includes the song titled “Dixie Highway,” which was written by Walter Donaldson and performed by Kahn, Gus — Lyricist, Stanley, Aileen — Vocalist — Soprano Vocal, and Bourdon, Rosario — Conductor in 1922. The Dixie Highway was constructed and expanded from 1915 – 1929 to connect Chicago with Miami, making it one of the earliest interstate highways in the United States.
Kahn, G., Stanley, A., Donaldson, W. & Bourdon, R. (1922) Dixie Highway. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/jukebox-62433/.