Lorraine B. Good Room, BCA

I am very pleased to have my work on view in The Lorraine B Good Room which is on the 2 floor of BCA - on Church street. It will be on view through May! Thanks to the hard work of the BCA staff - in particular Kate Ashman. The work on view is current work dealing with the theme of family dynamics.
 
My work is inspired by family dynamics, and my collection of 'artifacts', and old artworks. I transform old books, family letters, surgical masks, used clothing, and photographs, rather than preserving them. I see these objects as memories and in some cases, like letters and photographs, they actually are. But, memories do change over time. In light of current scientific findings that show memories are not stored in our brains;  each time you 'recall' a past event you reconstruct or recreate it. I see what I do at the sewing machine and the etching press as recreating, redefining, and transforming stories.

Two shapes that feature in my work: a ‘loop’ and a quarter of an almond shape are used to represent humans. A loop also refers to sewing, which is how I compile my collages, and as a line, that has an inside and an outside. The quarter almond shape I see as a part of something and that intrinsically makes connections.  My interest in family dynamics loops back on itself when I use my family's ephemera. Part of a family's structure is made from memories and stories (told or untold) that have formed each individual. Family relationships are altered and challenged by the introduction of new people through various relationships that include marriage, adoption, divorce, and birth. In my work, as I build 'families', I connect forms (or don’t), and the layers of shapes that ensue speak to the complexity of families and their unique beauty. A family is a constantly evolving form.