artist statement - an essay

Romanticising the past while simultaneously curating our present, this body of work embodies the relationships between us, our changing environment and the observed longing of the collective past, prevalent in the zeitgeist. This feeling, a fusion of wistful longing and fantastical daydreams, shapes this body of work, revealing a fragmented dream-like haze of explored memory.  

The works explore the romance of memory, observed in myself others of a simpler, more vibrant past, reconstructed into a golden age untouched by the complexities of reality. This nostalgic dream state overlooks the nuances of life, presenting a perfected snapshot in time that feels static yet exists in a constantly moving world. 

The tile is used as an explorative motif. Featured in the built environment, tiles reveal histories of the cities and spaces that came before us, characterised by their patterns and colours. Observing collections throughout Europe evokes a sense of grace and imagination reflecting the same attitudes of our own histories, as collections of historical tiles are often incomplete: while other collections serve as a puzzle disconnected from one another of forms that may never be realised in their entirety. There is a beauty in this, reflected in my own curiosity and wistful attitude towards my familial and personal history. Like a gridded mosaic, family history is vast and expanding both big and personal. I often reflect and mourne that there are people I will never meet. Curiosity toward their lives, relationships, interests, struggles, perspectives, possessions and recipes. These wonders often traverse into romanticised ideals. Unknown figures shrouded in naive idealised intrigue. 
Combining the fragments of what I do know, while confronting the romanticised aspects fill up the voids between. Reflected in the works, perhaps I am confronted and even comforted with the idea that there are tiles I have chosen to remove, modify and replace reflecting an intentional delusion to cope with the present.  

The works follow the varying aspects of Nostalgia discussed in academic writing commenting on the built environment, in an era of rapid change and gentrification, becoming an inevitable emotion. It is restorative, reconstructing a lost home, and reflective, offering an ironic, inclusive, and fragmentary view (Bonnet 2010). This work navigates between the rooted sense of an imagined home and an unrooted, free-floating sense of loss, acknowledging the hopelessness found in the contradictory pasts of a 'golden age.'(Legg 2004)

Embodying the self-curated aspect of nostalgia, the works reveal how memories are not just preserved but also removed and replaced. Multiple truths coexist, creating a sentimental yet restless exploration of personal and collective histories. This interplay of restorative and reflective nostalgia interrupts itself, creating a dialogue that is simple yet complex, personal yet universal. Reflecting on the power of memory, our longing for the past, and a reminder of the ever-evolving complex universal nature and its effect on how we perform our lives and identities.