Look at the Penguins, Gammy
As a child, I remember my sister and I hanging our drawings on my grandma’s refrigerator door. Over time, the refrigerator transformed from a strictly functional appliance to a living recollection and narrative of our lives and relationships. Alongside our childhood masterpieces were layers of photos, recipes, phone numbers, magnets, and other objects that my grandma added to the doors as well. Nothing was ever taken down, only added. The refrigerator became a visualization of love, family, memory, and connection. I have always battled with the idea of losing time and memory. Within both are love, beauty, emotion, and identity. Look at the Penguins, Gammy! celebrates and explores the memories I hold with my grandma and how our time together has shaped me into the person I am today. Through my process, I aim to slow down and delve deeper into photographed moments – expanding their narrative, preserving them, and layering them, much like my grandma's refrigerator door. In many ways, I aim to create my own refrigerator door: a door that holds my most valued moments and memories. My grandma taught me the value of time spent. Growing up, I watched her pour hours and hours into her hobbies. She poured love, care, and patience into each cake baked and seam sewn. Look at the Penguins, Gammy! is a homage to her. Each crochet stitch allows me to reflect, pause, and transform fleeting moments into permanent mementos. I combine delicate materials such as thread, fabric, and crochet with durable metals to blur the boundaries between the fading and the permanent. Memories shape who we are and have lasting impacts, yet they are fragile. I aim to blur the boundaries between delicate and durable to question and solidify the fragility of memory. In doing so, I question what parts of memory fade, what endures, and how narrative can be used to hold onto memory.