This series of images combines the artist’s love/fascination with ephemera: the sort of feelings it evokes including nostalgia and at times loss ‘for what once was’, in addition to the more philosophical questions it brings forth. What does it mean to have a life well-lived? Where does the value hold in our lives? Is it the fleeting moments of joy or wonder or the accomplishment and milestones which make the most difference? It is the opinion of the artist that so many of these genuine moments of feeling are supplanted with that which society dictates is worth remembering. Weddings, graduations, family trips to tropical locales might appear the most visually appealing in the proverbial suburban slide show, but it is questionable whether these moments of documentation are that which speak most to its participants. There is also the pedestal and re-writing of history which so often accompanies our individual and collective memory. The 1950’s were pure, the 1960’s radical, and the 1990’s, digi fun. However this discounts the individual experience and the political realities. The aim of this series is to question the gloss which is placed over the past, what were the hidden realities of these smiling, cheery images. On a technical level, many of the images are not the artist’s own (having been acquired at yard sales and the like), yet with the artist’s textual interpretation literally projected onto them. The interplay of text and image is designed to aid the viewer’s interpretation. Art is usually highly subjective, and here the images are literally telling you how to view them. The subject matter embedded within the text is political, personal, and at times irreverent. By deconstructing the romanticization of the past and analog processes in general, we can begin to interpret our own present more objectively.
