Memento is the creation of a moment in which two facets of myself exist in the same space and time.   It is an artist wanting to share a space—one where she feels a sense of belonging—with her son.   

Whether it is good or bad, most parents have the memory of their children drawing on the walls.  Cooper, my son, has drawn on the walls at home many times.  So I decided to unleash this little expressive, mark-making demon on the walls of a gallery. (I know—what am I trying to teach him?!) A gallery is often the last place one would imagine that a toddler “belongs,” but it is a passion for that space that I want to share with my son.  Marking a space is a common way for humans to show their existence at one place and one time.  The gold marks on the walls were my way to give my son permission to exist in a space that is more mine than his.  So I let him paint and draw on the walls.  I painted with him, immediately responding to his expressive marks with my own.   

        Later, white pyramids were hung in response to the gold marks.  Each triangular form has been a witness to a creative process in which I meditate on the fracturing of self that occurred after motherhood.  Furthermore, each is a theoretical lens through which I view the fractured aspects of myself.  I utilize this lens for the examination of imperfections as well as the development of my ever-changing philosophy on existence.  When I started hanging the pyramids, there was no plan.  I responded to what I saw and then realized I was installing these units around the drawing.  Originally, I planned on installing them over the drawing.  However, I unconsciously hung them around and in between the gold marks.  This is how my studio practice responds to my other responsibilities:  Around, through, and sometimes over other facets of my life.  

        A memento is an object used to memorialize a person or event, a way to trigger or represent a moment or memory.  Memories are ephemeral.  Their existence in the mind is a chemical placeholder for a moment in time, recalled through images, sounds, smells, physical sensations, and emotions.  This installation, like a memory, will never be experienced this same way again.  The marks on the wall will be painted over, and the images in our minds will fade.  However, the audio recording, the pyramids, and the video of my installation performance will be kept in a digital memory, existing as remnants of an experience.  These remnants will exist for an extended period of time, and they will eventually crumble away like our memories.   

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