BEHIND THE LENS

 

My installation artwork exists at the intersection of photography and sculpture. This hybridity of forms aligns with nostalgic and playful currents running through my practice. My work also carefully considers texture, as texture triggers powerful memories in my work. This texture is an integral trigger for self-determined identity, stemming from geographical and political situations and rooted in personal histories. Cyanotypes created using relics from my own personal history make two-dimensional records of three-dimensional objects, embedding the legacy of the object into the two-dimensional representation. My work in instant photography also takes the immediacy of the moment as a fabric for interpreting our environments.Instant photography can alleviate the feeling of longing for a finished product, the latent image revealing itself in mere seconds. Thus, my practice spans lived histories and the immediacy of the moment, capturing vivid truths latent within the everyday.

 

The transformative influence memory has on identity is a key theme in my work. The camera acts as a primary tool for retaining and interpreting memories. A process-oriented photographer, my work is a combination of digital, analog and alternative process photography. As an American citizen who arrived to this country as an immigrant, it is crucial for me to capture memories and to narrate lost time visually through photography. This stems from my efforts to revive discarded and forgotten objects from my family's past. These impulses influence my work as an experimental photographer: my portrayal of photography breaks free of the black frame and border and morphs into an object, inviting the viewer to interact.

 

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