Hannah Van Belkum: capstone

Abstract

The artist's statement: My work explores how photographs act as a capsule of memory, story, and relationships. I examine the ideas of the intangibility of memory versus the physical proof of a memory captured in a photograph. I spend time studying the photos and creating narratives around the subjects. I look at the connections between the known photographic permanence and the unknown unreliability of memory. I spend hours in a meditative fibers practice, focusing on a representation of a memory and honoring the moment with my time. My work acts as a remembrance of who we have been through the documentation of photographs. Creating my mom's portrait in fabric honors her passing down a love of fibers to me and celebrate the person that she has been throughout her life. She has acted as a source of inspiration but ultimately, she is just a person. As I get older, I want to understand how my mom as a person shaped who I knew growing up. I pour hours upon hours of stitch work to recreate photos of my parents. Each piece, made up of over 7,500 stitches, creates a precious intimacy with their story of years together and displaying how our lives stitched together through relationships. They reflect intimacy in relationships through the time spent stitching. Working with these photos is a way for me to conceptualize my parents as people beyond their status as my parents. I speculate about what their experiences meant to them and how their stories can call to us. We build connections with one another that transcend direct personal connection - we resonate with one another.