artist statement

The three pieces I am presenting here are the product of a reconsideration of the death of my mother. She passed when I was fairly young and though it was more than 10 years ago I still search for clarity about the subject.

(digging through the grave, looking for happiness)
One of these pieces reflects an understanding I have now, though one I certainly didn’t have in the first few years after her death, about the role of a mother and the importance that a mother-daughter relationship is understood to have. The work also reflects the fragility of that relationship and questions the sacredness of the mother-daughter bond.

(untitled (witness layer failure))
Another piece I am presenting is more immediately personal. I’ve created a type of document of my mother in an attempt to satisfy my desire to see her again, to meet her and hear her. I’ve collected stories from people who knew her as adults and I have tried to give her voice through these memories. The result is a simulacrum and, at best, a failure.

(permission to use your voice)
The final piece, a performance, deals with identity and creation. If I seek to reconnect with my mother can I simply find her within me – do we share desires, mannerisms, physical attributes? Do I really have the tools and the wherewithal to answer this question?

work