Wisconsin 1934 Drawing

Drawings are mounted on 2 inch cradled boards. My work explores the power of nostalgia; the ache of temporal distance and a desire to reconstruct the past. It examines the effects of time on memories and how the photographic souvenir is used to impede those effects. Between Longing and Belonging seeks to distill the space between past and present creating a new space in which both exist simultaneously. These drawings are inspired by an inherited collection of photographs belonging to my grandparents which date back to the 1930’s and by the nostalgia that was evoked while viewing these images. Nostalgia seeks to rebuild and restore something lost and patch gaps in memory, but it also dwells in loss, longing, and the dreams of another time. The cultural philosophy of metamodernism, also inspires this work. It suggests that through reconstruction opposing elements can be joined to create a new configuration. Influenced by this concept, I reconstruct the photographic souvenir into a charcoal drawing and join it in a contemporary way with geometric shapes in analogous colors. These colored bands draw the eye to the imagery providing a contrast with the black and white depictions of bygone era. The placement of the bands conceals selected information contained in the drawing, reinforcing the concept of time’s ability to distort and erase memory. Between Longing and Belonging seeks to reduce the space between the past and present through an intimate experience with personal and collective memories and to ease displacement with a sense of familiarity.