Objects as Heirlooms: An A/r/tography Experience

This arts-based research project is an autoethnography exploring the idea of heirlooms and what elevates an object to be classified as an heirloom. As the a/r/tographer in this investigation I explored what others viewed as heirlooms through reading, surveying, and interviewing. I then considered the objects that I identify as heirlooms. I made artwork throughout this inquiry which began as a reflection upon my personal heirlooms. Starting out as identifying what qualifies an object as an heirloom turned into the creation of potential heirlooms for my own family through a melding of various mediums. Our stories and memories surrounding an object and our connection with the individual that owned it are what elevate the object to heirloom status and that is what I have shown here