Rural Roots

A box of old family photos was gifted to me from my grandmother and I was inspired by these unique moments from the past. While researching I found that a plethora of information on these family ties and rural roots had been forgotten until the photographs had been rediscovered.Through printmaking and painting the themes of preservation and the preciousness of memory are explored. The process of printmaking is important due to its ability to exist in multiples much like the photos from which my imagery is drawn from. Painting, on the other hand, speaks to the singular preciousness that is associated with family keepsakes. Much like Kirsten Tradowsky’s work, I strive to reanimate these lost memories and create a window into that particular moment of the image. By creating this bridge to the past we can observe some other influences to this work such as; odd knickknacks, rural southern living, and family dynamics throughout american history. This body of work takes imagery from pictures and deconstructs them into their most vital parts. The pieces are then compiled together to deliver an almost cliff-notes version of the information in the image. When the photo is abstracted this allows for the preservation of the small details of shared memory that give momentos their importance. Through the recontextualization of these tokens of the past my audience will gain a similar drive to preserve small moments of history for themselves so that the interesting details are not lost.https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art498/1053/thumbnail.jp