'Lost & Found' was an exploration of the transitory
nature of memory and experience. It was created during a two-month stay as
artist-in-residence in Rauma, Finland, where the program Raumars has for the
last ten years been focusing on community based arts projects. In collaboration
with a group of women in Rauma, I made a series of drawings reflecting both the
desire to and the impossibility of stopping the flow of time and change.
Second drawing for S., who had lost her joy in life.
21 x 25 cm, colored pencil
The drawings are the result of my
interaction with six members of the local cancer association. Each
person had either personally or through some close contact been confronted with
this harrowing disease. The participants were asked to describe to me in an initial interview something
that they had lost. It could be anything: a tangible, specific object, or
something completely abstract. After this, I made a drawing of what they had lost, which was then shown to them. They could then react to the
drawing and discuss any corrections or refinements, after which a
new drawing was made. This process was repeated until we reached an image of what they had lost.
Third drawing for S., who had lost her joy in life.
21 x 25 cm, colored pencil
Last drawing for S., who had lost her joy in life.
21 x 25 cm, colored pencil
I chose to make the drawings as a series of still lives. The
compositions were created using a variety of simple everyday objects. This
allowed me to create a particular combination of abstraction and realism, which
I thought could more accurately reflect the descriptions and experiences of the
participants' losses.
First drawing for L., who had lost her ability to concentrate
21 x 25 cm, colored pencil
Their losses were invariably intangible, though often
related to concrete circumstances, like the loss of a family member, or some
physical loss through an operation. But the real losses were more diffuse, and
not to be contained in one thing, and certainly not in one object. Most of the
participants had also lost multiple things, or sometimes could not even explain
what had been lost, though often it became much clearer as the drawings
progressed.
Second drawing for L., who had lost her ability to concentrate
21 x 25 cm, colored pencil
Another important aspect for me in the depiction of
everyday materials, however, was the idea that there is something extraordinary
imbedded in the most ordinary aspects of daily life. It can also be the case
that the threat of losing something can act as a trigger for an enhanced awareness
of what is valuable. Through direct contact with the transitory nature of all
things through personal loss, the extraordinary can reveal itself.
Third drawing for L., who had lost her ability to concentrate
21 x 25 cm, colored pencil
Last drawing for L., who had lost her ability to concentrate
21 x 25 cm, colored pencil
Through direct contact with the transitory nature of all things through personal loss, the extraordinary can reveal itself. In a sense this is what art also does; uses (ordinary) material to reveal inner or hidden truths, ideas or information.
First drawing for T., who had lost her old sense of self and some of the ability to use her hands.
21 x 25 cm, colored pencil
Part of the understanding of the transformative power of art runs parallel to the awareness of the transitory nature of life. Art can never really capture this process, but it can mirror and reflect it, and maybe offer some consolation.
Fourth drawing for T., who had lost her old sense of self and some of the ability to use her hands.
21 x 25 cm, colored pencil
Last drawing for T., who had lost her old sense of self and some of the ability to use her hands.
21 x 25 cm, colored pencil
