95….All Roads Lead Home

A celebratory exhibition held at the Carnegie Art Center in Mankato in 2019.

My Mom was about to turn 95, it was the 70th anniversary of her marriage to my Father. All work done in B&W; Large format printed photos of her and where she grew up and lived. Jewelry work also done in black and white includes three very special lockets; One containing photos of my parents pre-marriage, one with their wedding photo and one I called “Begets” that contains a scroll of family members resulting from their union. This is a small sampling of the work contained in that exhibition.

Artist Statement……

I have been the person behind the camera my entire life.  I warehouse the majority of the family’s visual images.  When deciding on a theme for this body of work it seemed apropos to pay homage to my mother as she circles the sun for the 95th time.

This body of photos was taken, as the title reflects, on the roads that take me to my ancestral home.  I grew up in a very rural setting in south central Minnesota near the county line of Steele and Waseca.  Most every time I visit my mother I take photos.  She is not as comfortable in front of the camera as she once was.  I use only my phone to shoot pictures when I am there for fear of her hiding if I were to pull out a “real” camera. On one visit she would not let me take a photo of her because she felt she needed a haircut.  I willingly trimmed and washed her hair and with an impish grin she asked, “Don’t you want to take my picture now?”

The photos document life at this moment, a snapshot of her time and place.  I have included photos of the hamlet that is home to her;  the creamery, the site of the country school, the (at one time) gas station/garage, the township hall [the country school my grandfather attended].  And of course I could not complete the series without a nod to my father.

The metal work is also a celebration of my mother’s life.  Lockets to preserve sentiment, Pearls to enhance festive events, houses to offer sanctuary.  I use a torch and sterling silver to forge objects of adoration and enhancement.  Pearls seem to be my go-to staple these days.  Manipulating wire and sheet metal to form a piece of art brings me great joy.