I grew up in a town called Glen Ellyn and knew nothing outside of the north border of my town (North Avenue) and the southern end (Roosevelt Road). It was a small upbringing, surrounded by people and places that both my mom, dad, grandpa, grandma, and great grandparents lived and grew up in. Growing up in a place where my relatives’ roots sit side by side with passive aggressive neighbors and generations-long tensions, feuds, relationships, and secrets, I was inspired by a local folk artist’s painting of my town that I grew up seeing at my local library and injecting this idealistic vision with an assemblage. Inspired by accumulating childhood toys (train tracks), yearbooks and high school photos from my parents, and vintage heirlooms (Christmas village) from my grandparents, I made a rough and abstract map of my hometown from an aerial perspective. The subtle details and maximal arrangement speaks both to the mystery of family and the current paradox of exploring my family's archive.
