Home Sweet Home
​Grace Zhang

medium: glazed ceramic, plastic, and paper

“Home Sweet Home” represents the detrimental effects a brain tumor, craniopharyngioma, has on the body. The different rooms of the house and their functions represent the different organs that the pituitary gland’s hormones control. As the “master gland” of the body that controls many of the organs essential for daily bodily functions, the pituitary gland itself is represented by the small Amazon Echo at the center of the house. However, instead of being connected to the house as it should, the Amazon Echo is blocked by the tree. This tree represents craniopharyngioma, a slow-growing brain tumor that grows from remnants of normal cells. Since the house is depicted to be made of wood, the tree, which was meant to create the house, became its destroyer, just as craniopharyngioma does. The Amazon Echo thus cannot perform properly, impacting the house’s rooms, just as a damaged pituitary gland affects bodily functions. The body’s natural functions that are controlled by the pituitary gland are exemplified by ceramic furniture. However, craniopharyngioma’s damage to the pituitary gland causes panhypopituitarism, which is displayed through the damaged ceramic furniture. Because of panhypopituitarism, hormone replacement therapy is needed to replace the endogenous functions of the body. This is portrayed through the plastic and handmade furniture. These substitutions will never work as well as the body’s endogenous system. Thus, some plastic furniture is damaged and, overall, the house remains dilapidated. “Home Sweet Home” therefore not only spreads awareness of the detrimental effects of craniopharyngioma, it also acts as a call to action for furthering knowledge and medical research on craniopharyngioma.

"Art allows me the freedom to transform my intangible beliefs into concrete, tangible depictions, and through this, I am able to leave my own voice physically in the world." (Scripps '23)