jumped off the porch

The Porch We Jumped From is the centerpiece of Michael Fletcher’s Jumped Off the Porch exhibition—a sculptural installation that fuses architecture, memory, and myth into a surreal threshold of becoming. Inspired by the porch at his grandmother’s house, this work reimagines a childhood landmark as both a literal entry point and a metaphorical launchpad.

The installation invites viewers to step into the emotional terrain of Black boyhood, Southern domesticity, spiritual duality, and creative emergence. It is part sculpture, part set, part portal.

FORM + FUNCTION

The installation is built like a theatrical diorama:

• A hand-built porch with stairs painted in Fletcher’s signature topographical print (representing navigation, survival, and emotional mapping)

• A central white door symbolizing memory, structure, and access to the inner world

• Two window frames with matching topographic glass, mirroring those in etched memory panels—offering “views” into the house and back into memory

• On either side, grassy pads with cartoon-like shrubs evoke the nostalgic play spaces of childhood—a surreal backyard coded in Afro-surrealism

• Roses around the porch - Represent the individuals my grandmother took in-each imperfect rose a living memory of someone offered shelter, dignity, and love. The rosebushes act as floral archives of care, wrapping the house with visible evidence of communal survival and Black hospitality.

• Cardinal on the door knob–A deeply personal and symbolic detail-the Virginia state bird, always seen near my grandmother's home. In spiritual symbolism, the cardinal often represents visitation, protection, and ancestral presence. Here, it serves as a guardian of the threshold, a quiet witness to every story that passed through the door.