The tragedy of my father’s death and the separation from my son impacts my daily thoughts and obsessions. I have declared my home fertile ground for documentation. In my seemingly unchangeable lab, I find rituals of repetition. I acknowledge those that have honored the home space and regard the objects that they have left as proof of their existence. I long to integrate the spirit of my father and my son, through the sanctification of their remnants. The Swiss flag of my father’s homeland is built from my son’s shirts. The video is a ceremony honoring my father. I mark the past by creating a new archive. The family album exists as a story of separation and a parable of reverence.
The Hobos that traveled the railways had a secret language. Simple symbols marked warnings for fellow travelers. Love letters with intimate words, obscuring memory, as fragile and precious as rose petals.
One’s secrets could be a burden should they be discovered. A collection of strangers secrets are taken from sealed envelopes, the words are shredded into strips. The envelopes pulverized and made into white pulp, then sheets of paper. The armor of the envelope is transformed. Purified by the act of washing, the paper cloth woven from the minced secrets. Personal journals are shredded and words disguised. An act of mourning transforms into an expression of making amends to the self. The mutual secrets find solidarity in their communal exposure. The private revealed.
Torn dreams are mourned and sanctified in water, marking the past. These Acts of Contrition are domestic conversations of forgiveness and renewal. Water becomes fabric, emotion is pattern, and memory is thread, mending my way home. The quilt, a voice, a warm holy love letter honoring true self.
A story based interpretation of my personal drawings created at Penland from abandoned materials such as dried paint and hardened clay – detritus of other artists, walked into mystical patterns revealing my mother's story of hope and empathy, and ultimately the unearthing of the my drawing voice.
The final form is a pocket sized, soft cover book containg narrative type and imagery.
The final form is a pocket sized, soft cover book containg narrative type and imagery.
