The Mothers: An Exploration of Memory and Secondary Knowledge

I consider the experiences of past generations of women in my family and my relationship to them. This body of work began with Bessie, a portrait of my father\u27s mother. I painted it after attending her funeral. I did not have a meaningful relationship with either of my grandmothers. This led me to consider my right to portray them. My need to admit my incomplete memory and avoid the objectification of my subjects caused me to question my perspective. I wanted to memorialize these women to avoid their erasure. Through the progressive abstraction of these women\u27s figures, I chase an honest representation of my understanding