As We Go — Artist Statement

Time — the one feature of existence that our perceptions are confined to. This concept influences internally who we decide to be and externally how we aspire to live. Each story that begins and ends with a single breath can be defined by various unique moments but equally synonymous experiences and emotions. “As We Go”, was originally born from the exploration of my own upbringing paired with the grief of losing my grandfather. It revealed that an underlying push for striving to connect, to control or to fundamentally understand the world around us can be heavily reliant on the time we perceive to be entitled to.

This collection focuses on time in the mono-chronic form, a more linear attachment to how our stories unfold, in which the images are sectioned into the categories: past, present and future. Certain cultures such as the American culture I grew up in displays a mindset that holds fast to the ability to control the day if we delegate tasks in congruence with the clock. The use of applying the alternative process of tea-toning cyanotype prints aids in the visual of our fading or continually changing points in time. No matter how hard we may try to control our day. The process first strips the color, creating limited tones for the ambiguity of what the subjects could have been. Giving each image its own depth and complexity to explore from your own circumstances.

From this revelation it can be seen how often we become comfortable that there is another tomorrow and that we will have plenty of time later to do or say what we have always been meaning to. However, as I have vividly felt, those tomorrows can quickly turn into yesterdays in which we long for once was or who was. While surely, the past is a foundation for growth and the future a mountain of possibility, only in this present moment can you actively be here—in whatever capacity that may be.

I hope you feel challenged, in any awareness this collection may bring, to be more present in the places with the people who truly need you.