A photography exhibit that focuses on family and incorporates a dollhouse that has been passed down through four generations can be seen at the Pacific Beach/Taylor Library through Aug. 15.
Francesca Hummler’s “Domesticities” has been on display in the library’s community room since mid-June. It is viewable for free during library hours and made possible through San Diego Public Library’s OnView program.
Library patrons will have an opportunity to meet Hummler during a free artist’s reception set for 3-5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8 in the library, 4275 Cass St.
The German-American visual artist and researcher earned bachelor’s degrees in media arts and biochemistry from the University of California, San Diego.
“Domesticities” explores the meaning of home through constructed photographs engaging with family and generational memory, according to its description.
It features two of Hummler’s photographic series: “Our Dollhouse” (or “Unsere Puppenstube ” in German) and “the Cuckoo’s Egg” (“Das Kuckucksei” in German). Both invite viewers “to reflect on the spaces, objects and relationships that shape their sense of belonging,” according to the exhibit’s description.
They also draw from Hummler’s family biography, including her parents’ immigration from Germany to New York in 1994, the family’s move to San Diego when she was 17 and the adoption of her youngest sister, Masantu, from Ethiopia at age 3½.
“Both of these series kind of take my family as a starting point,” Hummler said.
The dollhouse shown in the photo exhibit, passed down through four generations of her family, traveling from Stuttgart, Germany and across the U.S. before reaching San Diego.
In a photo titled “Die Krippe” that is part of photographer Francesca Hummler’s series “Our Dollhouse,” the foot of her sister Masantu can be seen entering the dollhouse’s nursery. (Francesca Hummler)
Images show her sister Masantu interacting with the dollhouse on Del Mar beaches, wearing Hummler’s childhood communion dress for her own first communion in Rancho Peñasquitos and holding an American flag amid dollhouse furniture rubble — symbolizing how individuals with multiple heritages can choose elements of their identity to engage within the USA, she said.
According to Hummler, San Diego and UC San Diego profoundly shaped her path, she said.
She created “Our Dollhouse” in 2021 while working at a biotech firm remotely, pursuing her master’s degree at London’s Royal College of Art and writing her dissertation on therapeutic self-portraiture.
UC San Diego’s conceptual visual arts program, with alumni like Carrie Mae Weems, grounded her early photojournalism where she worked as photo editor of the school newspaper The Guardian and learned photojournalism, Hummer said.
“The art scene in San Diego, rightfully so, is very focused on cultural dynamics, but not cultural dynamics that my family takes part in,” she said.
Yet the city — its beaches, communities and edge-of-the-world feel — became central.
“I feel most connected to San Diego of anywhere that I’ve lived in the U.S.,” Hummler said.
She added that she wants the exhibit to show that artists can thrive by wearing multiple hats.
In addition to her artwork, she curates (including for the German Embassy), writes, teaches (including community photography and an upcoming role as a professor at the University of South Dakota) and does portfolio reviews.
In the photo “Masantu With Our Urgroßmutter,” photographer Francesca Hummler had her sister, Masantu, hold a photo of their great-grandmother. (Francesca Hummler)
“I think that’s where the industry is headed,” she said. “I see it all as part of my practice. And it frees me to make images that I find conceptual and academically rigorous … rather than having to adhere to a client’s wishes.”
Hummler said she hopes visitors expand their view of photography. Her staged, gesture-rich images blend irony, humor, color and deeper themes of interracial families, gender, cultural inheritance and phototherapy.
“I’m hoping that people enjoy the colors and the composition, but then also maybe think about some of the more serious underlying themes,” she said.
San Diego Public Library’s OnView program gives local artists like Hummler accessible display opportunities at library branches citywide. Applications are reviewed with priority for San Diego-based creators who haven’t exhibited recently in the system, according to officials.
Hummler said she discovered it while working remotely one day at the county’s Poway Library and saw it as a way to reach broader audiences beyond white-cube galleries.
After shows in Europe and Oceanside’s Techne Gallery earlier this year — a “coming home” moment for her family — the Pacific Beach Library exhibit continues that dialogue in the community where much of the work was made.
To learn more about Hummler, visit her website at francescahummler.com or her Instagram account @fransangle.
Want to go?
“Domesticities” exhibit by Francesca Hummler
When: now through Aug. 15
Where: Pacific Beach/Taylor Library’s community room, 4275 Cass St.
Artist’s reception: 3-5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8 in the PB Library.
Cost: Free.
Library hours: call 858-581-9934 or visit sandiego.gov/public-library.