Water resistance

(re)collection – A collaboration with Lost and Found: Family Photos Swept by the 3.11 East Japan Tsunami
at Intersection for the Arts
September 12 – October 27, 2012

ARTIST TALK
Saturday, October 27, 2012
2-3:30 pm

Statement for my piece in (re)collection:
Looking at these photographs, whose corroded surfaces represent immeasurable loss, I wanted to focus on the parts of the images that resisted being erased.

In general, more recent photographs were the ones most completely washed away -- likely printed on desktop home printers using inks that were not resistant to water. Some of the older photographs, created during a time where photochemistry was a wet process, managed to better retain the impressions of faces, hands, architecture or water.

The print washer that I found and included in this show, used to rinse off photochemistry from a photographic print, reminded me that water could be an integral part of revealing and preserving images. Washing the print leaves the paper chemically inert, extending the durability of the image. Through the process of engraving some of these images into the washer’s acrylic dividers, hidden parts of the photographs still held within the paper’s surface were revealed. What remains of these memories is a testament to the resilience of their material.

Read the review by Lani Asher for Art Practical here:

And here is the piece - photos are from the art business blog.