Judith Meyer

In an electronic age, Meyer’s work commemorates the enduring importance of paper and photographs. She explains:

Old photographs—discarded, sold on the Internet or in junk stores—capture moments in forgotten stories. My work suggests these stories. The text, composed of phrases from old books and letters, captures the imagined facts or emotional tone of the photograph. This text is in haiku format, which mirrors the brevity of the photographed moment and the allusive quality of the story I imagine.

I add paper from many sources to capture the texture of everyday life and the effect of aging. The appearance of the paper—printed, typed, or handwritten, discolored, stained, or creased—makes the paper visually interesting, and is a reminder that time is a part of every story. Paper in a foreign language reminds us that we can never know the complete story. Torn and incomplete pieces of old paper suggest the fragmentary but enduring nature of memory.

I select the papers for each photograph based on their color and content. I combine the elements in a simple and linear design that is a visual echo of the haiku format.

Born in Los Angeles in 1957, Meyer grew up In California and Louisiana. After attending Tulane Law School, she moved to Houston, where she has worked as a commercial litigation trial lawyer. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions, and was awarded Honorable Mention by juror Paul R. Davis, Curator of Collections of The Menil Collection, at Art on the Avenue in November 2017.