Created based on a cropped photograph of my late father from when he was my age in the 1970s, this piece explores the process of learning about someone's life through stagnant, unshared memories. Through the meticulous process of copper etching, I explored this distant, unknown moment lived by a man who died before he could share it. This piece is intended to tackle the complexity of grieving and remembering someone you continuously forget. The choice to reveal all but his face within this composition allows for abstraction of identity, a greater focus on the details that make up this moment, and encourages the viewer to “complete” the image through their own imagination. This act of abstraction and imagination reflects the way our memories exist; dormant, yet fleeting. The gritty texture achieved through the use of spray paint aquatint adds a layer of abstraction and aging to this image informing its existence as an incomplete, unowned moment in time.
