"trauma"

Residency @ The Big Ci

Upon finding out a decades long secret about my grandmother, I found myself running off to Australia just like her. I confronted my own family past as I explored the natural world in Bilpin, Australia. Rae approached a project I found myself manifesting. A fellow artist, Linda Weiss from Germany, took photos as I exposed physical wounds from two spinal fusions, with roots in scars and the roots to pain. Confronting the trauma of my grandmother, my mother, and me led me to finding the beauty of survival as I hiked in the Wollemi noticing the dead, decayed bark on tress that seemed to be dead but were still very much living growing amongst the burnt remains. Rae printed the photos and I shared my poetry. I hope to continue this project as it develops further. This was an unusually personal project for me and I couldn’t have done it without the support of my fellow artists at this residency.

During our open house, I sat and read new work not printed on the wall which is a memo board created out of disposed parts from a closed refrigerator company. Having the boards in my room as well helped my creative process.