Thesis: Reminiscing in Parallel Times
Ever since I was a little girl, I have been surrounded by photographs of my family and its many members. Every wall of our house has been filled with frames that hold these distant memories. The images within them range from new-old and from coloured-black and white. Being surrounded by these photos every day, I have always thought about the idea that who I am today is a culmination of my experiences. This thought has always been simultaneously terrifying and liberating to me because if you think about it, every experience we have can shape who we are in one way or another. While going through these notions, I have discovered similarities and almost repetitive experiences between myself and my family members. As I look at all of these different factors that have come out of a simple photograph, I can't help but wonder how these moments have affected our day to day lives and how they truly narrate our lives in more than one particular way.
My artwork takes a look at these photographs of my family members throughout the years and examines how these images have the potential to alter our memories and affect who we are. Each piece explores how personal experiences can repeat themselves and leaves a phantom presence through our lived experiences. These works will take you on a journey through my personal memories in hopes that you - the viewer - find your own connections within them.
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Thesis Document:
Abstract: A supporting document narrated in the first person which deals with the exploration of how family photographs can influence, change and create memory. This document and artwork takes a look at photographs of my family throughout the years and examines how these images have the potential to alter our memories and affect who we are. The artworks take a look at how family dynamics can repeat themselves and leave a phantom presence through our lived experiences. These works take you on a journey through my personal memories in hopes that you, the viewers, find your own memories within them.
Who I'm Made From
This was my first professional photograph taken and has hung in my house for as long as I can remember. As I was going through photographs for this series, I came across two separate images; one of my mom and one of my dad. Together these two images shockingly made up my portrait. My gaze, facial expression and curly hair mirrors my moms photograph as a child, while my seated position mirrored by dads. This piece explores that parallel presence that we experience in our life and how we do not always notice these subtle coincidences that make us who we are.
Winter Wonderland
In grade 2 I had to create a storyboard project based on my family. For some reason that I cannot remember, seven year old me chose this photo to represent my mom and I. I chose this image out of the hundreds of other photographs that we have of us together and this particular piece is looking into this image and the importance and meaning I found in it when I was seven. I don't exactly remember the moment this image captured but I do have memories of growing up in my neighbourhood during the winter season. There was usually a snowman on every front lawn and kids sledding on the hill at the end of my street. I wanted to explore these aspects in my work and show my blurry distant memory of my childhood in the winter.
Beach Days
This image was taken at Ipperwash Beach in 2004. This simple family image is full of memories and experiences that I have had over the years. I had a particular interesting experience with this image and the memories behind it. When I was six years old, my family went to Ipperwash Beach with a few other family members. We stayed at a cottage for a few days. I was six so all my memories associated with this particular trip are a tad blurry and not fully complete but one particular moment I seemed to remember over the years. I remember going down to the beach and getting into this bright yellow kayak with my aunt. I don’t remember what we talked about or where exactly we went but for some reason this moment was still so clearly in my mind.That was until the fall, when I was going through some photographs for my thesis and I came across this photograph of six year old me, in a yellow kayak, with my aunt. The image represented my memory so perfectly and I started to wonder if I truly remember this moment, or if I just remember looking at the photograph years ago and it somehow influenced the memory I have now. This image and its background explores my memories associated with this experience and how my experiences reflect my families as well.
Craft Weekend
Craft Weekend is a family event that was created as a way for my extended family to see one another and create Christmas crafts before the holidays. Every year we would gather together and bond over our shared love for creativity. This painting is a capture of moments, where I was taught to love and appreciate my talent. It explores where it all started and my memories associated with these simple moments.
Our Home
This painting explores the particularly strange experience that my family encountered when buying our home in the early 2000s. As my parents were looking at new houses and they entered this little side split with a large pool in the backyard, they couldn't explain the feeling but they knew that this house had to be our new home. Little did they know, that this house once belonged to my moms aunt and uncle in the 60s. Her family had already had already experienced countless memories associated with our home that we would never be a part of. This piece explores the many memories that were experienced in my childhood, along with my family members when they lived here.