memory letters

This is a space reserved for you. Write a letter, post a video, share an image. Let it all go into the ether. Who are you grieving? What are you letting go? Here, you are invited to share your letter in any form as we continue to make art together online.

project abstract

This project is a memorial to my Gramma, Ruthie. Representing an expanse between worlds, this installation celebrates the rich archive of memory that is quickly dissipating as Gramma’s mind succumbs to dementia. In conceiving of this installation, I visualized coming to rest on a bench in the middle of a bridge. The bridge connects current reality with the nebulous dimensions of Gramma’s mind. In this space, we can play between worlds. 

As a Black woman in the U.S. and a descendant of enslaved Africans, I do not know much about my ancestors. Much of my archival work and art practice centers on rebuilding my family story through imagination and creativity, in lieu of official archival documentation. I explore and create “home” as safe, sustainable space for Black stories and legacies.

Gramma’s memory is a rapidly disintegrating archive. She has lived a lifetime as a Black woman in the U.S. attempting to find her place in society, raise two daughters, survive a traumatic marriage, find work, grow old. She has lived a lifetime of attempting to create a sense of home and belonging in a country that was built to use then reject families like ours. And she is losing her mind. 

Gramma is one Black woman of many in the African diaspora who, against all odds, have constructed a life from a painful history. I aim to learn from the lessons and stories Black community members and ancestors pass on. To do that, I am starting by memorializing my Gramma. I will help tell her story, working to artfully record the rich and varied history of placemaking in a diaspora.