Author(s): Kaitlyn Corley
Mentor(s): Rheana Gardner, Samuel Davis
Institution SUU
I have been exploring the theme of disconnection I feel within my family and how I perceive them, and myself through stories I have been told growing up.Through my work, I’ve illustrated how this familial disconnection and lineage can affect one’s identity and community. By highlighting the challenges and benefits of mutual exchanges within a familial context. I chose to utilize black and white photography due to the artistic and emotional perspective it will add to my work. I’ve incorporated my family into these works through the use of the family archive, objects, locations, and collage work. I hoped to embody these feelings of disconnection and loss through my imagery. I wanted to create a sense of nostalgia in a world that is unfamiliar with faces that we don’t know. People, and places that we are told about all of our lives that we will never have the chance to experience. A perfect world molded by these stories passed down, just out of reach. A breach of connection, like we almost had it but just barely missed it. This project has offered a way for me to put these feelings into something that is productive. To share with others in my community who might be going through the same. I hope to help build the community up by sharing my personal experiences, in hopes that this might help others learn that they are not alone when it comes to familial disconnection. A feeling of loss for something we didn’t get to experience.