Paper Towels
Mixed Media \ Photography | 2023
The Paper Towels series includes 9 artworks that are based on materials from my family archive: tattered and stained album binders and pages, old photographs and writings that were discovered in my grandfather's house after his passing. Their source is unknown, and they are impossible to interpret or understand within a wider context.
These materials were scanned, reprinted (with a standard printer) and then impressed onto paper towels. By forcing a marriage between disposable cleaning sheets and archive materials destined for preservation, memory's ability to provide a sense of belonging and context enters a stage of stagnation. If the paper towel fulfills its role, the memory will be discarded. But allowing memory agents to exist without connecting them to everyday life achieves a similar result. Either way, the validity of memory is undermined, as it diminishes in both value and meaning. As its promise loses its luster due to this inescapable loop, the experience of helplessness grows.
Every paper towel is 22*28 cm.
Memory: A Chronicle of Lacking
Memory holds many promises – to connect between past, present and future; to bring together multiple generations; to shape meaningful shared experiences. But these promises are often taken for granted, because they rely on human intention. And human intention works both ways.
As a granddaughter of holocaust survivors, family origin stories were never mentioned. They were cast away. Instead of being remembered, they were actively and intentionally deleted. But by creating a 'missing link', these memories replaced belonging and refuge with rootlessness and insecurity.
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Working with my personal family archive has led me to create two series that deal with memory's lacking effect on my identity. The 'Paper Towels' series is described in detail at the top of the page. Another series, which is titled 'The Wedding Album', is depicted here.