I have been working on this series Kendaia for most of the semester. Kendaia is an Iroquois site about 20 minutes from where I live. This place is a multivalent confluence of historical, cultural, and historical events, and in the words of philosopher Edward Casey is "eventmental". This series I use my own documentary photographs as a record of the site, which then are further mediated through a paper lithography process, where each color is separately printed, layer over layer. The mediation reflects the layered content of the site. The printing process causes a perceptual blur, which obscures the visual definition of the various elements in the image. In each print I also include a bit of trash -- a cup, a bottle, cans, styrofoam, or a cigarette case. Perceptually the space is vibrantly alive with texture and color, but it also includes inherently these odd inclusions. This "horizontal" portrayal of the materialities of life are juxtaposed with ghostly skin-like drawn forms that are sewn on, transparently revealing the ground beneath. These images beg the questions: What is real? What is seen or not seen? Who is seeing? Are we in a suspended moment of time?
Here is a peak of some of them. They are still a work in progress, and will hopefully be completed by the June residency! There are seven of them in this series. A second taller (67 inches) Kendaia series with eight panels will be coming soon as well! I wish I had another month to finish all of these!
