My work addresses the subjectivity of perception and the dynamic nature of memory. Like a Rorschach test can reveal secrets of the psyche from an inkblot, or finding images in the clouds, the human mind conjures an array of imagery constructed from a single literal source. In a similar fashion, the essence of my images is the feelings conveyed rather than the details. As illustrated in Akira Kurosawa’s film Rashomon, we all perceive moments and events through our own lens. They can be perceived wildly different from the person next to us. By utilizing gesso to combine with the photographic dyes of a c-print and transferring them to a new substrate, the photograph becomes a pictorial moment that straddles the line between photographic representation and a painterly representation, wandering between realism and expressionism. The image has been altered through the process, just as our perception has been influenced by our experiences and beliefs.
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The veiling c-prints are fluid not a fixed form, memories and dreams begin to play at the viewer’s experience. We derive our own thoughts and conclusions. We create our own narratives. I see the cusp of a dream world where squeezing a building yields a rainbow . A “neverland” where the wind is so strong that the sidewalk is flapping in the breeze; Or a cab appears as though it is about to go over a waterfall and have an amazing adventure.
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I find the idea of a “hoarder” or a “packrat” intriguing as I myself have many precious objects, but not to an extreme. I noticed while watching the TLC show “Hoarders” there is a common thread of grief among the “hoarders” and their condition made more sense. I realized their grief was like an anchor and they were stuck—held in place by this weight. Many people are able to hoist their grief up and carry on, but they aren’t. Their collected objects are an expression of their grief, and their objects are a way to hold on to who they have lost.
“Gather” presents the idea of atypical treasures. My treasures are paired with my memories-creating talismans not of grief, but expressions of happy memories and a bit of humor.
A handful of stones always brings me back to the rocky shores of Maine where I spent many summers. A paintbrush is a reminder of my immigrant great-grandfather, who took a job painting houses to get by because no one else would hire him even though he was qualified for more. Newspapers take me back to when I was a paper girl and I would take a nap at my friend Meghan’s house mid route and would finish the route in the early evening. And every rose is a reminder of answered prayers.