Golden Somewhere <br/> Brittainy Lauback (Copy)

“Golden Somewhere” Every summer, without fail, I get hit with the summer sads. The days feel like a dog’s breath—hot, close, hard to escape—and the nights barely offer relief. Sleep slips away, and the dark hums with unease. I think about summer how it used to be: ghost in the graveyard, summer romances, putting lemon in my hair to lighten it, drifting in a pool just cool enough to forget everything. Those moments feel like postcards from a past life.

Now, summer feels heavier. It’s about not getting burned alive in your car, about trying not to fall for another alcoholic or narcissist posing as a boyfriend. There are still moments of joy, but they’re quick, slippery, and threaded with something darker. The line between freedom and dread is razor thin.

“Golden Somewhere” is about that space—that stretch of time that’s supposed to feel good but often doesn’t. It’s about the heat, the stillness, the loneliness that creeps in around the edges. The work moves through memory and discomfort, chasing the feeling that something beautiful might still be out there, even if it’s just out of reach.

Brittainy Lauback received her BFA from University of New Mexico and her MFA from University of Georgia. She has recently shown at the Georgia Museum of Art in the show Reckonings and Reflections. She has also shown in Looking Male at the Bo Bartlett Center, LaGrange Museum of Art, and she has shown in New Southern Photography at the Ogden Museum of Art. She has made music videos for Elf Power and B52’s member Cindy Wilson. This year her first monograph, Infinite Bonheur has been published by Fall Line Press.  She currently lives and works in Houston, Texas where she is a Professor of Art and Technology at San Jacinto College.

Website: www.brittainylauback.com

Instagram: @blahback