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 daily lives, including the imaginative play-worlds of my children.
Motherhood has given me a new sense of time and mortality. Since becoming a parent, I often find myself feeling nostalgic in the present moment. I have an aching awareness that this time with my children, as children, is so brief. Like Wendy from Peter Pan, I am desperately trying to pin down the shadows of my ever-growing children. This work also ponders the transcendental connection I feel towards my daughters. I look into their eyes and think, I have known you all my life. How are we connected to all life stretching back to it’s beginning?
This work is made possible in part by a grant from Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and a Faculty/Librarian Research Grant from Bridgewater State University.