The Life of Anya Petrovna
Any'a photography album, given to me by my grandmother.
Anya's mother on their farm in Ukraine.
In The Circus of St. Petersburg
Circus in Lviv
The Anya Contorting, Circus of Kiev
Circus, circa 1919
Anya & her friend, the vaudeville opera star, Miss Magnolia Blossom, outside of Dayton Ohio.
Anya and Magnolia traveling withThe Great Adam Fourpaugh Show
Signed head shot of Anya in the Great Adam Forpaugh show.
Anya on the road, circa 1928
The Life of Anya Petrovna is a fictional archive of photographs, albums, letters and other ephemera, all belonging to my invented great-great aunt, the circus performer and vaudeville star, Anya Petrovna. I have written her character into my family lineage and I become her, giving testament to her life. This body of work explores my inability to truly know my family’s Eastern European heritage through the photographs and objects they left behind. Being Anya is a way for me to connect with them.