Without Hesitation

  One afternoon as I was sitting with my Grandmother in her living room, she turned to me and asked me what day it was. Thinking nothing of it I answered, it was Saturday. Looking back on that day I realized it was the slow start of her swift descent into dementia. The more time I spent with my Grandmother, I began to pick up on more instances like this one. I never understood how my Grandmother could remember what her childhood dog’s name was but forgot how many kids she had. How does the brain decide what information is valuable enough to cling on to, and what can get washed away in the thousands of other thoughts we have daily?  

     In Without Hesitation I have curated a selection of home photographs of extended family members including my parents and grandparents. Although these scenes take place decades before I was born, I know their history well. Part of my existence lives within these photographs that hold memories I will never experience but can imagine. Taking outside materials and physically altering the photographs is my way of exerting some control over what information is stripped away from us.