Class
Article
College
Caine College of the Arts
Department
English Department
Faculty Mentor
Jared Ragland
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Artists Statement: I am an artist because art and photography allow me to escape the reality of life and imagine something new. It allows me to see past my own life and into someone else's, whether it be past, present, or future. As a deaf person, I grew up only experiencing half of the world's sound, forcing me to rely heavily on my vision and piece together life around me through visual storytelling. It’s why I think photography piqued my curiosity from such a young age. Because to take a picture is to capture a piece of reality. As I grew older, I became intrigued with the lives and stories of others, interested in the perspectives of those who experience the world differently. Books and film became my solitary companions, allowing me insight into other versions of reality, while escaping my own reality. My desire to escape our reality grew the harder life became. Whether it be real or fictional, it was still something better than my own. As I slowly lost more of my hearing my reality started to change and my way of seeing was altered. With loss of hearing and the appearance of tinnitus, I started to investigate my own personal feelings through my art, expressing my feelings and desires towards these multiple realities. I’ve tried to use art as a way to cope with this new reality I now experience by attempting to escape it. In doing so I have created and discovered new ways to enter another reality through alternative processing. I use alternative processing as a means of time travel. By learning about the history and memories of the past I have developed a deeper understanding of how others coped with their own lives and how society has developed to the point it is at today. All of this is reflected in my own work dealing with memory, history, and the manipulation of time and reality. Memento Mori is a photography project dedicated to researching how photographs capture memories and reality. The Latin phrase “memento mori” translates to “remember that you will die” simply used as a reminder of the inevitability of death, references of which can be found all throughout history. It is my intention to let my project Memento Mori serve as a reminder to myself that though death may be inevitable, I can still live my life to the fullest, even in this sometimes terrible reality. “Photographs are a way of imprisoning reality…One can’t possess reality, one can possess images–one can’t possess the present but one can possess the past.” - Susan Sontag
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-9-2022 12:00 AM
Included in
Memento Mori Photography Exhibition
Logan, UT
Artists Statement: I am an artist because art and photography allow me to escape the reality of life and imagine something new. It allows me to see past my own life and into someone else's, whether it be past, present, or future. As a deaf person, I grew up only experiencing half of the world's sound, forcing me to rely heavily on my vision and piece together life around me through visual storytelling. It’s why I think photography piqued my curiosity from such a young age. Because to take a picture is to capture a piece of reality. As I grew older, I became intrigued with the lives and stories of others, interested in the perspectives of those who experience the world differently. Books and film became my solitary companions, allowing me insight into other versions of reality, while escaping my own reality. My desire to escape our reality grew the harder life became. Whether it be real or fictional, it was still something better than my own. As I slowly lost more of my hearing my reality started to change and my way of seeing was altered. With loss of hearing and the appearance of tinnitus, I started to investigate my own personal feelings through my art, expressing my feelings and desires towards these multiple realities. I’ve tried to use art as a way to cope with this new reality I now experience by attempting to escape it. In doing so I have created and discovered new ways to enter another reality through alternative processing. I use alternative processing as a means of time travel. By learning about the history and memories of the past I have developed a deeper understanding of how others coped with their own lives and how society has developed to the point it is at today. All of this is reflected in my own work dealing with memory, history, and the manipulation of time and reality. Memento Mori is a photography project dedicated to researching how photographs capture memories and reality. The Latin phrase “memento mori” translates to “remember that you will die” simply used as a reminder of the inevitability of death, references of which can be found all throughout history. It is my intention to let my project Memento Mori serve as a reminder to myself that though death may be inevitable, I can still live my life to the fullest, even in this sometimes terrible reality. “Photographs are a way of imprisoning reality…One can’t possess reality, one can possess images–one can’t possess the present but one can possess the past.” - Susan Sontag