Hurricane Harvey submerged my home art studio in its waters for days. The blow of the destruction of the memorabilia, family slides, and artworks was one similar to the violation felt by a loss.
Resurface.
The attempt to save these damaged photographs and artworks proved to be a futile exercise. In the heat of the moment, as I started a familiarization process with this new kind of loss, something happened: I entered into a creative state working with the muddy images, discovering them in their new state.
Resurface.
They were no longer the images of loved ones but surfaces with sophisticated lines and colors as if made mindfully and with intent.
Resurface
The accidental effect of a ravaging accident was a silver lining. The “excavation” part of this series presents the reborn images in the form of reprinted archival photographs. They are the product of a slow marinating in a mix of photo chemicals and flood water.
Resurface
As I excavated through years of pre-digital photos, I asked myself: why have I kept these photos in boxes for years? Looking at them, what do I really see? What was their role in documenting or reinterpreting memories? What happens now that I don’t have them? What do these photographs mean in the context of how photography has evolved today?
