Found (La fontaine claire) Print

La fontaine claire is a project that was born out of my desire to create a home within an unfamiliar place. At the beginning of the project, I had just moved to Paris to continue my education. In preparation for my upcoming courses, I bought a pack of four Clairefontaine notebooks, one of which became the source material for this project. In the margins of each page, I found myself scribbling little secrets, wishes hidden amongst doodles that only I would ever decipher. I felt that these honest little observations about life, about the academic world around me as well as my turbulent inner world, helped to ground me as I adjusted to life in this new place. Combining these snippets with found images, I created a visual representation of this shift in perspective. The source images for this work were all found during my first few months in Paris, each with their own unique story. From abandoned slide film found in a claustrophobic brocante to a post card found perfectly placed outside on the street, each piece not only has a story about its conception, but also a story embedded within the composite image. Layering excerpts from my notebook on top of the found images produced a unique sort of dream-like atmosphere, a place where thoughts interlock with the physical world and where boundaries are thin. Together, they create a portrait of my time here in Paris as I still search for a way to make this place my home.