The Threads We Hold

Abstract

"This thesis explores the interplay between place, memory, and the embodied experience, within the framework of “home”, specifically addressing displacement and loss. As our foremost experience of place, home is an anchor point, and dislocation from this foundational connection leaves us in the mutable, fragmentary, and unreliable realm of memory. Our memories and our bodily experience are intertwined aspects of our connection to the places of our lives. Place, Memory, and the Body create a latticework for investigating an understanding of ourselves, our history, and the stories we construct. Central to my practice is examining the ways we create and hold connection to place, how our embodied experiences frame our remembering, and how we construct our narratives around these memories. This forms a complex picture of the interconnectedness of ourselves with place and the trauma inflicted by loss and displacement. Through physical materials of glass, plaster, metal, wood, fabric, and the incorporation of personal items, I make tangible the experiences and emotions tied to memory, dislocation, and loss. Within the reality of a world-wide crisis of displaced persons, I find relevance in the investigation of how home and place play a crucial role in all our lives."