Coping
Becoming a caregiver is a challenging task. To cope with assisting my elderly in-laws through the aging process, I turned, or returned, to art. The therapeutic qualities of creating and being creative helped me through this time. Art-making also provided the potential to learn more about family through exploration of their belongings collected and kept over a lifetime.
Father-in-Law (Cyanotype collage on board, 72 x 31.5) Using 189 negatives of train engine photographs taken by my father-in-law in the 1940s and 50s, I made prints with the cyanotype process to create a nontraditional portrait.
Pillbox (Found objects and assemblage, 12.25 x 11.5 x 10.25) Among the items found in downsizing my in-laws’ home were unconsumed medications. Using both prescription and over-the-counter medicines, pills became a medium and were selected for color, shape and texture. Arranging them in a small suitcase, these leftover items become part of a type of canopic jar collection.
Soapbox (Found objects and assemblage, 12 x 13.5 x 16) Understandably, persons growing up during the 1930s and 40s saved items believed to possess value for later use. Like Pillbox, even the smallest and seemingly most perishable of objects have become useful once again in thought-provoking art.