Securing Shadows
Luna silver gelatin photogram 50×42"
The days are long, silver gelatin photogram 42x50"
Paloma, silver gelatin photogram 42x32"
Everyday Mermaid I, silver gelatin photogram 30×42"
Everyday Mermaid II, silver gelatin photogram 32×42"
I have always known you, silver gelatin photogram 32x42"
Quarantine Birthday, silver gelatin photogram 41x42"
You are made of stardust, silver gelatin photograms diptych, 20x16" each
Ten turns around the sun, silver gelatin photogram 42x60"
18 Wishes, silver gelatin photogram 20x16"
Unicorn, silver gelatin photogram 42x70"
Lineage, silver gelatin photogram 42×60"
Securing Shadows explores the transience of childhood from my perspective as a mother. These images are photograms, one of the earliest forms of photography. No camera is used; instead, I am working with my family and myself as subjects, laying our bodies directly on top of light-sensitive paper to create white silhouettes. These images draw upon personal symbolism and reenact moments from our lives, including both the imaginative play-worlds of my children and the daily struggles/joys of parenting. Motherhood has given me a new sense of time and mortality. Like Wendy from Peter Pan, I am desperately trying to pin down the shadows of my ever-growing children. This work is an attempt to capture the intangibility of this fleeting time and create meaning around what we imprint upon our children either intentionally or unintentionally and how this may affect who they grow to become.
This work is made possible in part by a grant from Rhode Island State Council on the Arts
