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Abstract

Distant vestiges of memory incite my art making. By examining my biographical past through various scopes, I can extract key memory perceptions for further investigation.

In my work, I physically construct models of memories to correlate to the mental process of memory reconstruction. The very nature of memory is devoid of a logical progression or stability. Imagery loses clarity, moving in and out of our consciousness. The memories often become muddled creating passages that can be fleshed out by intuitive impulses. Therefore, the structure is built to contain the fleeting memories so I can extract meaning from them. Individually crafting all aspects of a memory in multiple dimensions unearths intricacy and produces a complex and rich narrative.

Photographing the models as the final step alters the scale and flattens the image, creating a documentation of reality. The viewer must then question the origins of the imagery presented and draw conclusions about its purpose. The use of photography in this instance also functions as film. The images are presented as fragments of a larger scope of memory that has no definitive beginning or end, and the use of a film still draws focus to a particular moment in the elapsing of a memory. The photographs are informed by the history of film, particularly Film Noir and French New Wave—those references are synchronized with corresponding film theories that determine my technical choices in composing the shots. For example, the French New Wave upset the traditional conventions of story-telling in order to access a new facet of reality. I deviate from a linear narrative and instead favor upsetting the chronology of memory. I create a new dimension of reality by allowing a singular memory to converse and interact with historical and cultural narratives.

Through this process of visual reconstruction, a unique perspective of realism is crafted. This new realism functions to revive and reinterpret the dormant memories of my childhood in Pennsylvania to contemplate their contemporary meaning.

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