Family Romance

Since the 1970s, Charles Ray's work has disturbed viewers, ingeniously undermining expectations in order to challenge constructs of reality. In Family Romance, the naked figures at first seem to epitomize the ideal family. However, although the physical proportions of each individual figure are correct, the relative sizes are not: all the figures are the same height. The children therefore seem larger than their parents, almost mutants. Touching on children's stories, dreams, or nightmares, this suggests that they have grown too quickly while their parents have shrunk. The figures' nakedness makes them anonymous and classless; lacking any personal or societal indicators, they become an archetype of the nuclear family. The title refers to the Freudian concept of family romances. Freud discusses the inability of children to see their parents as ordinary people: cloaked in the Oedipal drama, parents always retain the omnipotence attributed to them during childhood. Ray's work presents an ironic reversal of this concept and of the traditional hierarchy of the family. Against the backdrop of "family values" and a modern culture that exalts youth, Ray's children attain the stature of gods, while their parents are no more than equals. With all the members of the family naked and the same height, the way children look up to their parents is lost, as is the innocence of childhood. This uncanny sculpture impels viewers to examine their own fears and their relationship to others. Although Ray's figures are linked by their hands, it seems that the slightest movement could shatter not only that flimsy connection, but entire belief systems. The sculpture represents a perfect fragile moment pregnant with the potential for collapse, both physical and conceptual.