“ the sea hath bounds, but deep desire hath none”
-William Shakespeare in Venus and Adonis
In Salvage, I use photography to document my attempts to have one last conversation with my father. Using images of submersion and from sonar, these photos consider water as a possible medium for connection. By putting messages on letters, faxes and objects I am trying to communicate with him beyond the grave. In these images, I consider water as the subconscious to create staged narratives. Objects, both found and created, are used as vessels of memory. Mixing all of these elements I hope to suggest a world where the boundaries between life and death are blurred and attempt to actualize emotions often suppressed by the fabricated niceties in places like obituaries. I see human longing at the heart of communication but believe that it is only in person that we can truly reveal ourselves to each other, despite our attempts to do so through technology. In this series I used my father’s collection of slides from his travels and sonar devices as starting points to depict these ideas. I envelop my children into this work in order to create a narrative about family for them. The conscious is too literal-minded; so I use objects to create encrypted symbols of constructed memory. In Salvage, I want to invite viewers to reach deep within their own family history and consciously transform their own memories.
