Personal Mapping...a new update

These collages are becoming larger and more complex. I'm experimenting more with text and hope to soon have the courage to try this technique on my relief forms.

List and Inventories Update

I have a new draft of Isaiah's Inventory. I was very unsatisfied with the quality of sound in the original draft, so I re-recorded everything. I also considered tone more with the mixing of this work. My intention is to create a sense of confusion and complexity. My mentor, Cathy, suggested being more thoughtful about the sculptural qualities of sound. Taking her advice, I experimented more with the use of stereo to create sound that is more dimensional and experiential. I'm currently working on the installation for this work.

Although I intentionally overlapped the tracks containing the lists of animals and inanimate objects, I also tried to space out the narration of the names so that the viewer/listener can catch snippets of the contrasting list. In between the names of people and their valuation, one can here things like bay horse mule, or meat, or buggy. I'm not quite convinced that enough of the animal/object list is discernible, making the contrast clear between it and the list of peoples names.

Finally, I added more contextual details in the document's narration, in an attempt to aid in the listener's understanding of the work.

The Taste of Memories

This is an in progress draft of a new video piece I've been working on. The audio is from an interview I conducted with my mom over the summer. The video features footage of a stream and wooded area near my home with superimposed photographs of family members mentioned during the narration. My intention is to make a two channel video installation to be projected simultaneously. Like the Water Secrets installation, this video visually merges nature and body, while also raising questions about the importance of food, family relationships, the home and its surrounding landscape to who we become.

The Object as an Image

Over the summer, I made some cyanotypes while visiting my grandmother. She owns kitchen utensils that were passed down to her by her own mother. A couple may have even belonged to her grandmother as well. These objects are beautiful in their own right.

Although they are still being used, they hold for me memories of my great-grandmother and her cooking. They also bring to mind issues of legacy and inheritance. Not only do these objects symbolize the values of hard work and devotion to family that was the legacy my great-grandmother passed on to my grandmother and the rest of her descendants, but they are also imbued with memories of her recipes, mealtimes and holidays spent with family, and a tangible symbol of her touch and labor.

My goal is to incorporate several of these images into my quilted collage work. I will also experiment with using them as part of a wall collage, that will draw connections between my hand photographs and hand shell sculptures.

Three Distinct Worlds in One Yard

This is a collection of detail shots I've taking in my grandmother's backyard. There seems to be three distinct zones: the far side of the yard beneath the tree line that is nearly abandoned, yet full of relics of past use, the manicured lawn that is closest to the house, and still in use, and beyond the fence where nature is more wild and the ravine and creek divide our yard from our neighbors to the rear.

Reflections: Photography, Part II: Original Images

There are several directions for my original images during the early part of this semester. The first series seeks to explore using photography as a means to reinforce the relationship between woman/man and nature in regards to place, home and its surroundings in particular. These images focus on the details of landscapes surrounding the homes in my family. Although starting with my grandmother's yard, this series also includes my mother's current home. I aim to expand this series to include my own home and those of my aunts.

The second series explores the connection between objects, labor, and identity. Building off of motif of the branching line as a metaphor for lineage, time, and a connection between nature and the body, I have been taking pictures of my mother's and grandmother's hands engaged in activities that they enjoy. I'm also interested in the story that particular images and objects reveal. For example, there is an image depicting my grandmother passing to me a mechanical egg beater that belonged to her mother.

The third series documents the journey to my ancestral home, examining the connection between place, identity, migration, loss and the traces left behind. In the coming days, I'll discuss this more in greater detail. For now I'll just say that these images illustrate my ongoing research into my family heritage and my attempt to answer questions, uncover information, and find my ancestral home.

My final goal for this semester concerning photography will be to consider printing methods and methods of installation to maximize effective storytelling. As I've previously learned, this is a problem that cannot be left unresolved until the end of the semester. I will have thoughtfully consider ways to solve this problem starting now.