My friend Kairn Klieman responds to questions about home:

Home is feeling relaxed and free and at ease–hidden from all of life’s demands. It feels cuddly. Home is not my childhood home. There was tension there. It was not cuddly, not easy. My home is what I created here; what I made for myself.

The space for “home” is moveable, and it depends on the situation. The only thing about my childhood home [in California] that feels cuddly is nature, the forest and the beaches. I miss that because we don’t have that here [in Houston]. The shift happened when I was young and I came back from Africa and didn’t fit anymore. And I’ve moved a lot—and I can create home for myself. I can set up home in a hotel.

In Houston, my home is my kid, my husband, my PJs, my cats and my own cooking – when I’m peaceful. Cooking is only peaceful about one third of the time, otherwise it’s hard! – Kairn Klieman

This conversation is part of my What Is Home? project that is partly funded by Mid-America Art Alliance’s Artistic Innovations grant.