Family Fabric

After my mother and father passed away within a year of each other, I gathered up a group of childhood photos of myself with my two sisters, brother and other family members. The photos are moments of celebration and mark the seasons we all spent together. Most of the pictures were taken by my mother. Watching her take pictures and assemble photo albums influenced my decision to become an artist/photographer.

As I looked over photos, letters and other artifacts of our family, they began to reveal our connections to each other--literal and emotional. Without our parents to set our view of the world, it was up to me, my two sisters and our "baby" brother to reassemble our world and connections to each other. My method of reconnecting was to make art.

I began to transfer-print photos from our childhood and other family artifacts onto white handkerchiefs, attaching collage elements like colored film and indian bindis to the pieces. I chose to print on handkerchiefs because my father had always carried one in his shirt pocket, along with some family photos. The collaged elements were added as personal "attachments" and windows through which we see ourselves. The photos on each piece spin in several directions--like moments which float to the surface of consciousness, accessed from different memories. These works on handkerchiefs are about the fabric of our family life together...