Tag: research

The Truth in a Nutshell: Murders in Fall River, 1892

I took a great many creative liberties with this project; things like the colors & patterns of wallpaper, rugs, and other textiles are imagined, and the accoutrements of daily living like kitchenware, bedroom articles, etc are drawn from my research into daily life in the 19th century- but I believe the layout of the house, and the placement of the important people and objects, is as accurate as I can make it.
Scale: 1:24

Case summary: On August 4, 1892, Andrew Borden (70) and his second wife, Abby (64, nee Durfee Gray), were murdered in their home at 92 Second street in Fall River, Massachusetts. Abby appears to have died first, based on blood clotting, digestion, and body temperature. She was struck between 17 and 19 times about the head and neck with a heavy object. Her body was found in the second-floor guest room of the Borden house. Andrew Borden was struck about the head and face between nine and ten times with the same, or a similar heavy object. His body was found on the sofa in the first-floor sitting room. Andrew’s daughter Lizzie (32) was the only suspect ever arrested. She was tried in 1893, and acquitted. No other arrests were made, and the case remains unsolved.

Built between Orlando, FL and Chicago, IL 2023-2025.

The Truth in a Nutshell: Hinterkaifeck

What follows is a 1:24 scale model of the Hinterkaifeck farm, where the entire Gruber-Gabriel family, and their maid Maria Baumgartner, were murdered between March 31 and April 4, 1922. The case remains unsolved.

For the past several years, I’ve been studying and writing about the Hinterkaifeck case. In order to better understand the scene, I consulted floorplan sketches made by police and witnesses, the Gruber family’s probate records, and the few surviving photos of the farmhouse. However, flat images and lists have limits; they can’t give a sense of scale, of space, or tell you much about how people might move through a structure. And so, the scale model was born. I’ve found it incredibly useful in understanding not only the life of the Hinterkaifeck farm, but also its inhabitants and their daily realities.

The scale model comes from an assignment I give my art students. They’re expected to do research on a historical mystery, and recreate the scene in either 1:12 or 1:24 scale. This is based on Frances Glessner Lee’s forensic artworks/investigative tools: the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death.