Remembering

Time doesn’t wait for anyone. It always changes the way you look at something, or the way it looks. This is something I learned from a young age, and have tried to battle against it in order to preserve memories I’ve made. I started out collecting family photos, then I moved on to taking my own, but as I got older I realized there is no real way to preserve a memory, it’s always changing. As years pass little moments are forgotten even physical relics from the past deteriorate and age with you. Because of this, I soon realized there’s no pure way to stay connected and felt saddened when looking back. It was like a layer of separation was formed between me and the memories. It’s a longing to connect to something, some person, some memory that is no longer present. This is what I’m interested in, the layer of separation felt from the past after time takes its course. Since my work is inspired by my memories, I use photographs from my childhood, furniture to amplify the imagery of the home, fabrics and other relics from my past. By using materials strongly tied to my past the work becomes a reproduction of my memories. I create artificial stand-ins for things I’ve experienced like… love/loss/home/joy/death/dissociation/bliss/pride/nostalgia/want/grief/playfulness/ innocence/depression/comfort/intimacy/longing/freedom/security/hope/peace/ through installations set up to allude to the image of home. In doing this a weird inbetween atmosphere is created as the work resembles something familiar, something that could be found in a home, but each piece is altered in a way so that it doesn’t just mimic a home. This could be through the use of sound, video, or lighting to distort the way the piece is viewed. This alter in reality helps to amplify the separation felt when trying to hold on to the past. By doing this I hope I can recreate this feeling. I hope the person viewing it might connect to this and reflect on their personal experiences.https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art498/1017/thumbnail.jp