• MARISA CHAFETZ
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MARISA CHAFETZ
Substack
Contact + Info
Current Work
Projects
Commissions


We are Ugly but We Have the Music, Artist Statement

I had an idyllic upbringing, I grew up in a commune of sorts, with three moms and three dads, and seven brothers and sisters. Our story is serendipitous, unlikely, and beautiful. I relive my memories like reading a novel, as if our past might still be taking place in the present in some alternate universe. In recent years, our family has fallen apart in monumental ways. We mourned losses one after another, as if the tragic momentum was unstoppable. I grew up knowing that falling backwards would mean two dozen hands, outstretched to catch me, and suddenly falling means descending into cold, empty air.

This series, titled ‘We are Ugly but We Have the Music’, is my attempt to understand what is left. My childhood meant knowing, it meant being sure. Now, right in the thick of it, I'm still staring out at what feels like a sea of uncertainty and change. If my childhood was easy to know, a series of stories so magnificent, they sound like fiction- how can I understand my family's present: often full of heartache, loneliness, and banality? What is the reality of what we are now, after our fall from grace? With this series, I explore this reality by delving into my memories, while concurrently attempting to make peace with present.

Bayville Bridge (Night), 2017

Sunday (Millford), 2016



Millford Drive is a street that houses twenty-four homes that from the outside are identical. It is a street where the houses are so close together that you can hear the couples and children conversing. All it takes is a lift of a window in order to talk to my best friends, one on each side. It’s a street that could be anywhere and one that time seems to have forgotten. But mostly to me, it’s my family. So many families will visit with their grandparents or cousins on Sunday nights but we did not have that. So instead, we became each other’s families.

Alexa, written age 18, 2010

Parker, Shyla, and Nina Under the Table (Valley Road), 2016

Parker and Mom Out Front (High Street), 2016

Lavender (Greenport), 2016



The blackberries were wild,
In the field by our Oak tree;
They fed my hunger and my soul,
As I dreamed of who I'd be;
The field it was an art store,
Where all supplies were free;
All colors and shapes and sizes to make my jewelry;
Necklaces were crafted with weeds of purple clover
I tied them stem to flower,
And repeated it all over;
Sometimes they became flower belts,
Worn just below my hips;
I wished for a someday boy,
Who would kiss my berried lips;
In that field, there was a gallery,
The canvas moving round;
The clouds made changing art,
Best viewed from lying down;
Often I'd bramble through the green and thorny thickets,
Accompanied by a symphony,
Made up of frogs and crickets;
I listened with intention their music sounding the same,
I added my imagination,
Until I heard my name;
And then the dusk would fill the air,
The street lights began to start to shine;
And so I knew it was time to go,
For it was supper time.


Sheri, written age 51, 2016

Nina Going to Her Sweet Sixteen (Millford Drive), 2016

Nina does Parker's Makeup (Valley Road), 2016

Sarah and the Birthday Cake (High Street), 2016

Parker and Nina Embrace on the Car (Bayvillle Beach), 2016

Mom Saging the New House (Valley Road), 2017

Parker and Mom at the Pond (Waittsfield), 2016



Moving is never not weird. I'll miss this tiny cold roof that's always wet, because it has the best sunrises and sunsets. I saw a double rainbow on this roof one day and everyone was outside with their hands over their eyebrows and I thought everyone was hugging but I might have made that up. The moon always looks great from here, even blurry through my tears. It was so normal for a while. Last time we had to move I wasn't ready to say goodbye to child and the old ways, but I think I'll have to leave it here. On this roof.

Parker, written age 17, 2016

Parker on the Roof (High Street), 2016

Sarah in the Pool (Millford Drive), 2016

Nana at Home (Long Beach), 2017



One day I'll come back here with a man And put a flower in his hair And everything will slow down and be good again

Parker, written age 17, 2016

Mom Sleeping on the Couch (Fredricksburg), 2017

Parker on the Hill (Waittsfield), 2016

Scratch Tickets (Ludlow), 2016

Rose's Fridge (Greenport), 2016



I was born on March 17th, 1992. Marisa on March 18th 1995. Julia on March 20th, 1997 and Parker March 5th, 1999. Since the start we’ve been lugged from place to place together; always inseparable. We were always as different as night and day and there were so many occasions where the parents would joke that they were married to the wrong spouse and it should be reversed- Sheri and my dad Ed and Brad and my mom Anna. Sheri and my dad were the active and spontaneous types. They were the first ones testing the conditions on the ski slopes when we went away and were as carefree as how I always wished I would be. Brad and my mom on the other hand at their OCD’s with cleaning and throwing things away- they would rather stay in and stay warm. People joked around that my mom and Sheri were Lucy and Ethel and my dad and Brad, Ricky and Fred.

Alexa, written age 18, 2010

Fallen Fruit (Valley Road), 2016

Parker Eating Breakfast (Fredricksburg), 2017

Dad and the Mirror (Long Beach), 2017



Nina taught me home. I feel a physical bond with us and we can't be separtated. Since she was born we've been tied at the hip and even with her obnoixous friends and boyfriends, I love her just as much as I love myself. Sarah taught me to laugh even when everything goes to total shit. Between me Sarah and Marisa's 711 runs, sitting in Marisa's room watching The Following and crying over Kevin Bacon, or outside on that scary road at 2am leading to the beach holding eachother in the car, only to return to the warm Dalli house, we never stopped laughing

Parker, written age 16, 2015

Nina on the Couch in Her Sweet Sixteen Dress (Millford Drive), 2017

Parker and Nina at the Roller Rink, 2016

Parker, Mom and Shyla in the Snow (Valley Road), 2017

Parker in the High School Parking Lot, 2016

Mom Reading Parker's Palm (Waittsfield), 2016

Mom Getting Ready (Valley Road), 2016

Parker and Nina at Prom, 2017



My family's alright. We all went out and got drunk and it felt warm. I'm blonde again and I feel pretty. We have a hammock and a blow up pool in the backyard and we're close and trashy and it's all fine

Marisa, written age 20, 2015

Sarah and the Flag (Greenport), 2016

The Touch (Millford Drive), 2017

Bayville Bridge (Snow), 2017


Installation photos



We are Ugly but We Have the Music, Artist Statement

I had an idyllic upbringing, I grew up in a commune of sorts, with three moms and three dads, and seven brothers and sisters. Our story is serendipitous, unlikely, and beautiful. I relive my memories like reading a novel, as if our past might still be taking place in the present in some alternate universe. In recent years, our family has fallen apart in monumental ways. We mourned losses one after another, as if the tragic momentum was unstoppable. I grew up knowing that falling backwards would mean two dozen hands, outstretched to catch me, and suddenly falling means descending into cold, empty air.

This series, titled ‘We are Ugly but We Have the Music’, is my attempt to understand what is left. My childhood meant knowing, it meant being sure. Now, right in the thick of it, I'm still staring out at what feels like a sea of uncertainty and change. If my childhood was easy to know, a series of stories so magnificent, they sound like fiction- how can I understand my family's present: often full of heartache, loneliness, and banality? What is the reality of what we are now, after our fall from grace? With this series, I explore this reality by delving into my memories, while concurrently attempting to make peace with present.

Bayville Bridge (Night), 2017

Sunday (Millford), 2016



Millford Drive is a street that houses twenty-four homes that from the outside are identical. It is a street where the houses are so close together that you can hear the couples and children conversing. All it takes is a lift of a window in order to talk to my best friends, one on each side. It’s a street that could be anywhere and one that time seems to have forgotten. But mostly to me, it’s my family. So many families will visit with their grandparents or cousins on Sunday nights but we did not have that. So instead, we became each other’s families.

Alexa, written age 18, 2010

Parker, Shyla, and Nina Under the Table (Valley Road), 2016

Parker and Mom Out Front (High Street), 2016

Lavender (Greenport), 2016



The blackberries were wild,
In the field by our Oak tree;
They fed my hunger and my soul,
As I dreamed of who I'd be;
The field it was an art store,
Where all supplies were free;
All colors and shapes and sizes to make my jewelry;
Necklaces were crafted with weeds of purple clover
I tied them stem to flower,
And repeated it all over;
Sometimes they became flower belts,
Worn just below my hips;
I wished for a someday boy,
Who would kiss my berried lips;
In that field, there was a gallery,
The canvas moving round;
The clouds made changing art,
Best viewed from lying down;
Often I'd bramble through the green and thorny thickets,
Accompanied by a symphony,
Made up of frogs and crickets;
I listened with intention their music sounding the same,
I added my imagination,
Until I heard my name;
And then the dusk would fill the air,
The street lights began to start to shine;
And so I knew it was time to go,
For it was supper time.


Sheri, written age 51, 2016

Nina Going to Her Sweet Sixteen (Millford Drive), 2016

Nina does Parker's Makeup (Valley Road), 2016

Sarah and the Birthday Cake (High Street), 2016

Parker and Nina Embrace on the Car (Bayvillle Beach), 2016

Mom Saging the New House (Valley Road), 2017

Parker and Mom at the Pond (Waittsfield), 2016



Moving is never not weird. I'll miss this tiny cold roof that's always wet, because it has the best sunrises and sunsets. I saw a double rainbow on this roof one day and everyone was outside with their hands over their eyebrows and I thought everyone was hugging but I might have made that up. The moon always looks great from here, even blurry through my tears. It was so normal for a while. Last time we had to move I wasn't ready to say goodbye to child and the old ways, but I think I'll have to leave it here. On this roof.

Parker, written age 17, 2016

Parker on the Roof (High Street), 2016

Sarah in the Pool (Millford Drive), 2016

Nana at Home (Long Beach), 2017



One day I'll come back here with a man And put a flower in his hair And everything will slow down and be good again

Parker, written age 17, 2016

Mom Sleeping on the Couch (Fredricksburg), 2017

Parker on the Hill (Waittsfield), 2016

Scratch Tickets (Ludlow), 2016

Rose's Fridge (Greenport), 2016



I was born on March 17th, 1992. Marisa on March 18th 1995. Julia on March 20th, 1997 and Parker March 5th, 1999. Since the start we’ve been lugged from place to place together; always inseparable. We were always as different as night and day and there were so many occasions where the parents would joke that they were married to the wrong spouse and it should be reversed- Sheri and my dad Ed and Brad and my mom Anna. Sheri and my dad were the active and spontaneous types. They were the first ones testing the conditions on the ski slopes when we went away and were as carefree as how I always wished I would be. Brad and my mom on the other hand at their OCD’s with cleaning and throwing things away- they would rather stay in and stay warm. People joked around that my mom and Sheri were Lucy and Ethel and my dad and Brad, Ricky and Fred.

Alexa, written age 18, 2010

Fallen Fruit (Valley Road), 2016

Parker Eating Breakfast (Fredricksburg), 2017

Dad and the Mirror (Long Beach), 2017



Nina taught me home. I feel a physical bond with us and we can't be separtated. Since she was born we've been tied at the hip and even with her obnoixous friends and boyfriends, I love her just as much as I love myself. Sarah taught me to laugh even when everything goes to total shit. Between me Sarah and Marisa's 711 runs, sitting in Marisa's room watching The Following and crying over Kevin Bacon, or outside on that scary road at 2am leading to the beach holding eachother in the car, only to return to the warm Dalli house, we never stopped laughing

Parker, written age 16, 2015

Nina on the Couch in Her Sweet Sixteen Dress (Millford Drive), 2017

Parker and Nina at the Roller Rink, 2016

Parker, Mom and Shyla in the Snow (Valley Road), 2017

Parker in the High School Parking Lot, 2016

Mom Reading Parker's Palm (Waittsfield), 2016

Mom Getting Ready (Valley Road), 2016

Parker and Nina at Prom, 2017



My family's alright. We all went out and got drunk and it felt warm. I'm blonde again and I feel pretty. We have a hammock and a blow up pool in the backyard and we're close and trashy and it's all fine

Marisa, written age 20, 2015

Sarah and the Flag (Greenport), 2016

The Touch (Millford Drive), 2017

Bayville Bridge (Snow), 2017


Installation photos