Attachments II

I just looked at Lisa Dahl's work on Dear Ada (and left a comment) and that got me thinking about the whole idea of house and home which is a theme I am very interested in. There are so many images that bring me back to my roots and the environment in which I spent my formative years. Objects have the ability to transport us to another time. When I'm not exploring the many themes inherent in gardens and flowers, I seem to explore the same themes through objects and place.

This work explores family attachments and place. This is what's left of a structure on my family's land that has special meaning for me. While bolts served to attach the posts of this house, as objects they cause me to think about other attachments I've had in my life.

The bolts are wax castings of the actual objects painted with oils. The image is a photo transfer into encaustic over fiberous paper.



Wallpaper and textiles have power as memory prompts. If you respond to this work with familiarity you are definitely a certain age. While I consider this colour scheme very garish now, it was the one that was in the first home we purchased and began our family. How I lived with it then I can't understand. My leanings now are toward more serene environments.

This wallpaper sampler was created as part of my Remnants series in 2008. The technique is photo transfer collage, built up wholly of photo transfers into gel skins and torn to create a composition that is then enhanced with acrylic paint. The shots were taken in a house in a community where I spent many of my summer holidays. We now have a summer home there. Connections abound in our lives.