Undeveloped Memories
etched photomicrograph slides, painted wood
In Undeveloped Memories, moments in time altered by loss are etched into found glass slides. This piece is a reflection on memories that couldn't be made or memories that weren't supposed to be made. It's a contemplation of the "after" of grief, of everything that's forever altered. Some undeveloped memories are fragments, others longings for an alternate reality, yet others observations on moments when the absence is heaviest.
Image Descriptions:
Image 1: Full view of the installation which consists of three sets of narrow, white shelves suspended in a gallery space with white walls and a light wood floor. The shelves are suspended at varying heights - from left to right mid-level, lowest, highest. The highest shelf is approximately 5 feet off the ground and the lowest shelf is approximately 3 feet off the ground. The sets each have small rectangular glass slides resting upright on the shelves.
Image 2: Detail view, looking at the middle shelf set from its side. There are small grooves in each shelf that the glass slides are resting in, so that the glass slides are mostly upright. Text is visible on the glass slides, but not legible.
Image 3: Detail view of an individual glass slide. The slide is a photomicrograph slide with etched text that reads, “This is when”
Image 4: Detail view that reads, “This is when you would’ve turned 51. We weren’t sure what to do.”
Image 5: Detail view that reads, “This is our first Christmas without you. We still order Chinese takeout on the twenty-fourth.”
Image 6: Detail view that reads, “This is when we let your ashes go in the ocean. They were heavier than we expected.”
Image 7: Detail view that reads, “You would’ve been mad we lived together first.”
Image 8: Detail view that reads, “You would’ve said, ‘I love you but I don’t like you right now.’”
Image 9: Detail view that reads, “You would’ve cried but said, ‘It doesn’t count if no tears come out.’”
Image 10: Detail view that reads, “I kept one flower from your funeral.”
Image 11: Detail view that reads, “You didn’t even like flowers.”
Image 12: Detail view that reads, “Sometimes I search for your obituary online. I’m still startled by ‘Age 49’”
Image 13: Detail view that reads, “I go to the ocean to find the sand dune we climbed together. I can’t find it without you.”
Image 14: Detail view that reads, “You would’ve been so happy we decided to get married.”
Image 15: Detail view that reads, “I wore your dress.”
Image 16: Detail view that reads, “This is when I turn 30. I look more like you every year.”
Image 17: Detail view that reads, “Once it’s been five years, I’m not sure he’ll ever be okay.”
Image 18: Detail view that reads, “He still carries your photo in his wallet.”
Image 19: Detail view that reads, “Grandma is in the hospital for the last time.”
Image 20: Detail view that reads, “You would’ve held her hand til the end.”
Image 21: Detail view that reads, “Joel had his first child. “
Image 22: Detail view that reads, “We’ll tell him about you.”