THE SENTIMENT OF MEMORY
My work, an interactive installation, is about resurrecting the stories of those people we have forgotten. In our everyday lives we randomly come across various scents and sounds such as the smell of chalk dust reminding us of an inspirational teacher from grade school or we hear a classic song that brings us back to a childhood friend we haven’t thought of in ages. They may have disappeared from our present lives, but are still embedded in our subconscious. As the head mental health counselor in a high risk Psychiatric unit I was exposed to so many untold stories of patients that were going to be buried in that institution. and fade away. I was compelled to preserve their stories through my art.
My artistic process begins with painting a portrait of my subject on found wood. I then build a plexiglass container in which to house the wooden portrait. The plexiglass container is filled with seawater that will disintegrate the portrait over a lengthy period of time turning it into pulp wood. Attached to the plexiglass case is a small plexiglass box filled with a scent representative of the subject such as juicy fruit gum, musty books, tobacco, or an old leather motorcycle jacket. Also attached to the plexiglass case is an iPod filled with music and recorded conversation that becomes the soundtrack to the subject’s life. As in real life our visual memories of even the most important people from our past fade, my portraits also disappear. We are left with only the scents and sounds which serve as powerful memory triggers to remind us of that person’s existence and influence. There's importance in never forgetting.
PROTOTYPE: The Writer Waiting For Inspiration
PROTOTYPE: A Well Known Master Of Ceremonies, Specializing In Illusions
MVVO SOTHEBY'S: THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARED
MVVO SOTHEBY'S: THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARED
