Jamie
Redmond
Redmond's
current body of work, "I know they are performing
on us, will you let them in?" was created
from a reflective standpoint, analyzing absence as
it pertains to our everyday lives. Specifically, absence
generated by death. The work seeks to communicate
the narrative of absence to the viewer. Although a
deceased person will always be absent, their absence
can be felt in a more prevalent manner, especially
when this state of absence is called out by such things
as an object that has become a souvenir of the past.
This souvenir beckons a memory. Our relationship with
these absences, as they are repeatedly called to us
in daily life, revolves around the nature of perception
and memory. It is often the recollection of these
absences on a repeated basis that strengthens the
absence as a presence. Take, for example, the family
dinner table, where meals were shared on a daily basis
and special occasions celebrated. The table becomes
the focal point for a sense of togetherness with family
members.
Familial members' permanent absence is all the more
poignant when your gaze falls on that table, as the
memories it evokes will never be repeated in the same
company. This is an obvious example, but demonstrates
that the amount by which we allow absences to become
pervasive influences in our lives can be determined
by the extent to which we surround ourselves with
reminders of those who are absent. These reminders
exert themselves on the present, momentarily distorting
our hierarchy of importance; making what is absent
more important than what is present and bringing the
past into the future.
To this end, the utilitarian as an item was utilized
in this body of work for its capacity to generate
significant narratives of absence. Each item was intentionally
sought out and used as souvenirs from the past. They
are generic, yet specific items that are inconspicuous
but still call to our memories. Those items may have
been owned by our grandparents, inherited by our families,
which we have in turn purchased when others had used
them up. By utilizing these souvenirs of the past,
attention is called to the absences that we allow
to become presences in our lives.
Photography has become the device Redmond uses to
navigate her present and to negotiate her past so
that she can continue toward the future - without
being haunted by absences that have become present.
The catalyst for this work was a long string of familial
deaths from tragic illnesses. This time-period began
with the loss of her mother, and continued on for
several years. Navigation in the light of the loss
of a parent, who inherently has the role of a guiding
beacon, at any age can leave the children left behind
with a sense of floundering. Lessons were not taught,
mistakes have to be made and negotiated without the
direction of a parent. For better or worse, in light
of absences, the future becomes open to negotiation,
and it is in that moment, where the horizon has no
visible point of reference, that one must decide how
to continue forward. One can grasp tightly to the
past, forcing it into the present and then into the
projected future. Alternatively, as in this body of
work, one can acknowledge the ghosts of the past and
their abandonment of our future, and move forward
regardless.
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