Family Matters zeroes in on Gillian’s family as a stand-in for the way Trump’s knack for sowing discord and division has impacted communities, individuals, and families across the country. As Laub explains, “When I first began photographing my family in my late 20s, I began to unpack my relationship to my relatives—which turned out to be much more indicative of my relationship to the outside world than I had ever thought; the key to exploring questions I had about the effects of wealth, vanity, childhood, aging, fragility, political conflict, religious traditions, and mortality so entrenched in my other work.” These issues became all the more tangible in 2016, when Laub and her parents were revealed to be on opposing sides of the most divisive political campaign and subsequent presidency in recent U.S. history.

The images collected in Family Matters, spanning over twenty years, reveal Laub’s willingness to confront ideas of privilege and unity, and to expose the faultlines and vulnerabilities of herself and her relations. Ultimately, the work also celebrates the resiliency and power of family—including the family we choose—in the face of divisive rhetoric. Laub writes that she has become fascinated with the complex nature of tradition and blood relationships: “My work has always been an artist’s search for a deeper understanding of family and tribe in all its forms. There is a very thin line between the ties that bind and the ties that free, between the secrets and stories that haunt and those that provide comfort, and I have an enduring respect and fascination for those that choose to walk that line, struggling to become who they are without forgetting where and whom they came from.”

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Learn more about the Traveling ICP Exhibition[arrow]