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I pursue the ideas
of memory, communication, and ritual in my work. I am fascinated with
how memory, nostalgia, and sentimentality seem inextricably interwoven,
and how the memory of waking and sleeping life become interlaced. I navigate
the space between them.
How and why do we constantly resuscitate memory through objects? We often
attempt to preserve memories by saving particular objects we cannot bear
to throw away. Our keepsakes, letters and worn clothing describe our identities.
The saved objects become the residue of memory. These objects contain
memory with their scratches, dents, and stains. Ironically, the treasured
items also pronounce the absence of the person, event, or thing that one
is trying memorialize. Perhaps this is why I save letters, since the words
can be reread, and the voice of the writer can be revived despite the
years that have passed.
The mind is a palimpsest, with layers of images and information inscribed
over time. As our mind revisits or replays a memory, the more elaborate
and yet unclear the memory becomes. Like writing on a blackboard, some
messages are saved and then erased from the mind, or forgotten. The realness
and trueness of memory are vivid, yet elusive. Is one who does not save
anything erasing the past? Perhaps that person is liberated from the past,
free to live in the present without having to revive old memories. I am
compelled to save so as not to forget.
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