(2020)


Handmade, one of a kind paper sculptures created from family photographs
Pigment prints on cotton rag, set of 18, 8”x10” each

My childhood home and its’ garden in Hoboken, New Jersey, which no longer exist physically, represent a sanctuary that I feel I have lost in adulthood. By excavating family photographs and other materials from my early life, I have found that underneath the layers lies a deep desire for the refuge and freedom of imagination that I had in childhood and thought I would always have. It is this sense of loss with which I am grappling. In order to bring the pieces back together, my grownup imagination fills in the gaps like fresh mortar between old bricks. The resulting work represents an inner space that I am now seeding and cultivating, as I have found that the garden lives within me.

Floating Petals is a set of handmade paper sculptures created from a selection of family photographs taken within my childhood garden, combined with dried flowers and plant matter from my parents' present-day garden. Once shredded, the fragments of photographs were brought back together to take on new form. I found the process similar to the search for memories and the loss of detail as remembrance fades. The new paper looks like conglomerate rock, not dissimilar to what my precious memories, signified by the chosen photographs, have become after so many years of use. After being pressed, I intuitively shaped and wrinkled the paper, resulting in sculptures of likeness to hilly landscapes or abandoned handkerchiefs. Together, with petals of new and old, I have created my own gardens to explore.