Fabricated Memories
Using digital technology and Polaroid film, this portfolio reconstructs
memories combining recent images with childhood snapshots. The
result are seemingly realistic images of events that never happened but
reflect emotions from my childhood.
I was born in England and in 1997, returned to England for five
months. During that time I decided to explore my memories of the
place where I was born and lived for the first eleven years of my
life. On returning to America and looking at my negatives, I
realized that I linked my own memories of England to memories of my
father who died a year after returning to India from England. I
also noted that 1998 was the twenty year anniversary of his
death. I wanted my work of England to mark this. The work
that has evolved is a reconstruction of memories using parts of
snapshots from my childhood and recent images.
I created a small handmade accordion book where the images are
presented as Polaroid emulsion transfers to emphasis the fluid nature
of memory. Some pages also include text. To emphasize the
fact that my father died due to his smoking, the book is covered in
paper made from tobacco leaves and is presented in a cigarette
box. The paper has been stained with tobacco juice so that the
viewer experiences the tobacco through sight, touch and smell.
The pages of the book are made from a delicate handmade paper to
suggest the images, like life itself, is very fragile.
|
|
