HUMANITY

Positive memories are often treasured and valued experiences that we keep with us throughout our lives, but what do we do with negative memories? They often occupy the same amount of mental space but are often not discussed or are suppressed. I am fascinated by both the positive and the negative experiences of my childhood and would like to portray each equally throughout my artwork. I am interested in creating artwork about both celebrated experiences and unpleasant experiences that would otherwise not be shown or celebrated. 

Nostalgia is something I associate heavily with memory and is an element I would heavily like to play off of in the displaying of my work. I use thrifted items like frames, ceramic sculptures, vases, and rugs to create the sense of a lived-in environment heavy with age and experience. I have chosen to only thrift the frames I will be using for my work as they each reflect the framing displayed in traditional homes and come with plenty of organic wear and tear. These items are also chosen specifically because they resemble the decor in my own childhood home and thus create this strong sense of nostalgia for me.

 Memory is a challenging concept to convey through two-dimensional artwork, thus I have chosen collage as my preferred tool for this subject. By being able to tear away to reveal certain aspects of an experience, or layer and sew over other elements of the same experience, I am able to convey the fickle nature of memory. Once something is a previous experience, certain elements will have been forgotten and I am able to convey that through paint and layering.