a Child of: my family migration
Family Migration Study
The work shown here is an altered book reflecting the migration and history of my family. It is quite personal and has many symbolic features to the compositions. I call the artwork "a Child of". For more information read the descriptive narrative below.
From England to Vienna, Cordele, and Snellville, my family spans far and wide. We now happen to be settled in one location right in the heart of Georgia. My family began in England and migrated to the US around the late 1800’s. My great grandfather married a girl from Atlanta and the story begins. Mimi was my grandmother and she is actually the stepdaughter of my great grandfather, Papa we called him. Then on the other side of the family, my mother’s mother, Nanny, is married to a Purple Heart toting veteran. Was anyway, before he passed away when I was a child. She’s never moved on. Fond memories taint my mind of being at both of these grandparent’s homes. I even remember my Mawmaw Jack, my great, great grandmother. She dipped snuff. Gross, I thought, but my dad thought is was okay enough that he whittled her a little dipper from a piece of wood so she could scoop it out of the can easier. The crazy things I remember from my childhood.
The altered book I created to represent my family migration story is filled with memories and symbolic works about the life as I see it. The book goes in all directions because my life was a little turned upside down with a variety of family sins from childhood. So I start in the middle with the web like mapping structure of the women in my life. Women are the most pivotal and therefore that is what I went with. Not sure why I seem to go back to the women with everything I create, but I imagine that is the subconscious telling me something.
Anyway, the book goes from web mapping the girls to work about my grandmothers. They are caretakers and wear aprons. There is an “apron” page that is representational of my Nanny and her sewing dresses. She created beauty from anything it seemed. There is a sweet little girl who collected things and had fairytale thoughts on one page.
Another page is of my child who loves to create. I started this page with photo transfers of her work and image, but then decided to let her add her own flare to the page. I absolutely love the little drawings and the fact that she wanted to write in the book her nickname I call her instead of her name. That is interesting to me because she has no idea why I am doing this work. She made a future memory for me. My heart is happy.
“Messages of sympathy” are on one page about my aunts. One of them is a pharmacist and use to doctor us like she was the medical professional. We knew nothing else. I still see her as such. They both were like mothers to me. There is a page to reflect my love for the beach just as Mimi had. She would pine for the waters of St. Augustine when I was a child. I heard all kinds of stories of when she lived there and I even vacationed with her there. Those days were magical.
Feathers symbolize the weightlessness of my great grandmother as well as the soft white hair she donned. I never understood why she used that purple shampoo. Her cooking was delightful.
“Tattered Apron” is about my mother and her constant scuttle and tardy. She bakes and cooks and runs around all affray, but you will never go hungry at her house. And finally, the last page is my young silhouette. It is symbolic for so many reasons like the ones that use to hang in Mimi’s hallway of all the grandchildren.
Such great times. Such great memories.
The women in my life have made me who I am, but more importantly molded me into what I do, say, and create. This is special and I am glad to be able to represent them in an altered storybook of my own.
The altered book I created to represent my family migration story is filled with memories and symbolic works about the life as I see it. The book goes in all directions because my life was a little turned upside down with a variety of family sins from childhood. So I start in the middle with the web like mapping structure of the women in my life. Women are the most pivotal and therefore that is what I went with. Not sure why I seem to go back to the women with everything I create, but I imagine that is the subconscious telling me something.
Anyway, the book goes from web mapping the girls to work about my grandmothers. They are caretakers and wear aprons. There is an “apron” page that is representational of my Nanny and her sewing dresses. She created beauty from anything it seemed. There is a sweet little girl who collected things and had fairytale thoughts on one page.
Another page is of my child who loves to create. I started this page with photo transfers of her work and image, but then decided to let her add her own flare to the page. I absolutely love the little drawings and the fact that she wanted to write in the book her nickname I call her instead of her name. That is interesting to me because she has no idea why I am doing this work. She made a future memory for me. My heart is happy.
“Messages of sympathy” are on one page about my aunts. One of them is a pharmacist and use to doctor us like she was the medical professional. We knew nothing else. I still see her as such. They both were like mothers to me. There is a page to reflect my love for the beach just as Mimi had. She would pine for the waters of St. Augustine when I was a child. I heard all kinds of stories of when she lived there and I even vacationed with her there. Those days were magical.
Feathers symbolize the weightlessness of my great grandmother as well as the soft white hair she donned. I never understood why she used that purple shampoo. Her cooking was delightful.
“Tattered Apron” is about my mother and her constant scuttle and tardy. She bakes and cooks and runs around all affray, but you will never go hungry at her house. And finally, the last page is my young silhouette. It is symbolic for so many reasons like the ones that use to hang in Mimi’s hallway of all the grandchildren.
Such great times. Such great memories.
The women in my life have made me who I am, but more importantly molded me into what I do, say, and create. This is special and I am glad to be able to represent them in an altered storybook of my own.
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