“The Matter of Things” and “Matter out of Place” references artifacts and locations that remain inaccessible to certain people due to political, cultural, and social restrictions. Objects – like looted items, clothes, and things of mundane attributes are depicted within small wooden panels. Larger paintings create an artificial sense of forced presence. The title of these works is an attempt to critique the overuse of the term "ethnographic jackstraw," which directly addresses the absurdities of displaying fragmented histories in a way that often disregards their original context. These works are painted on pine wood panels, the same material used to construct the kitchen cabinet during soviet times as a mass-produced object. This choice of material connects the paintings to the everyday objects that populated the houses, while also reminding the standardization of life in Soviet times.