Matuschka has extensively documented her apartment and the many changes made to it since taking possession of the premises in 1974. The apartment has served the artist as her studio, office, and living accommodations. Matuschka's most known photographs, including the award winning and historical 1993 cover of the Sunday New York Times Magazine cover were photographed in this space. She has amassed a collection of before & after pictures and videos depicting the original layout and various stages of evolution and de-construction.

Highlights

* Recycling thousands of linear feet of chestnut molding: the artist managed to reuse 75% of the original molding and recycle the rest.

* Reconfiguring the window casings and moldings: the original effect of the windows and doorways made one feel as if they were looking at caskets, coffins, located in a funeral parlor. Each of the 20 doors and windows were treated individually; all but two were arched.

* Lighting--the imported lights from Italy combined with curving all corners and rounding off any right angle- combined with a special effects paint job produces an outdoors effect: a home in space as opposed to in a box. A nest in nature, appearing as if it is actually outside.

* Outside shaft ways now serve as miniature gardens and terrariums.

* Sunken Storage: Matuschka searched for spaces she could open up and sink closets and storage containers into. For instance, two old dumb waiters were removed and now serve as a closet. When ever possible, furniture closets, or items were sunk directly into the wall.

The interior moving slideshow in this section represents Matuschka's home--once an old Victorian dwelling ridden with bulky molding, small boxy rooms with too many apertures and outdated gas fixtures. In this moving slide show you will view before and after pictures of the artists residence form 1974 thru to the present.

Another way to view Matuschka's apartment renovation is to click on individual rooms below to view before and after pictures via a side scroll gallery. Here the viewer has control over the images and length of time they are on the screen.