These series were created as a reaction to a person close to me experiencing dementia. Unable to recognize her relatives and herself, she destroyed photos, believing none of them represented her life and memories. 

I used photos from the family album and tested materials like organza, Japanese paper and watercolour paper on an inkjet printer to make multiple images with different qualities. I watched how ink interacts with these materials and used various tools to apply water to the prints making them bleed. I then ripped the dissolved images, layered them to give them new texture, depth and form. The stitches used to join the layers mimic photo defects – cracks, folds, rips, bleeds, tangles and mold. They also represent the dual nature of a stitch as both a fix and a form of destruction.

The series explores the photo album as a memory vault in the context of dementia. Instead being a source to bring back memories, dementia destroys it like a corrupt memory card.

Materials used: paper, ink, organza, threads. Size: ~16×11 cm