Art about Moments to Savor

Here is the story:
My grandmother, Virgie Marie Ross was the safest person in my childhood. She cooked delicious comforting food. She hugged me, even when I was a surly teenager. She delighted in who I was. And she hung the laundry on the clothesline in the backyard. The sheets and pillow cases, tablecloths and dresses would blow in the gentle wind while my sister and I ran through them with hearts of laughter. Or at least that is the way I remember it.

Reality is often quite different from one person’s memory to another. Clotheslines were just a tiny part of a reality of who my grandmother was. Really everyone reads like a book cover, rather than a book. In other words, it takes much longer to turn the pages of a person’s character on a daily basis, rather than to surmise who they are in a moment. However, sometimes all we get is a moment or series of moments to know one another. We can only glean that which we have access to and mindfulness to notice as we observe each other during our interactions. Actually, Virgie Marie was a secretive woman that kept a heart of lies, even until her death. To this day my mother carries the hurt of uncertainty about her childhood and parentage. Therefore, this series of artwork is about the complexity of perspective in which each person holds their memories.

Memories Matter, What We Savor In Life Creates them.

Photographed Moments become the Gravy of our Lives. The chemicals sandwiched between paper captures the times we want to remember.

Originally cameras were used to record history. But as they became more affordable and portable cameras froze moments of everyday life as memories. These pictures were the only way I was able to remember anything.

Clotheslines are the second component of my art intended to create moments.

Though we use dryers to complete our laundry cycle each week many people all over the world continue to hang their laundry on lines to dry. It is almost a romantic site to see the common clothing hanging from the corner of a building in Lisbon or from the rooftops of an apartment in Paris. But, relics on a line are quite the unusual site today in the U.S.A. Hopefully, they will feel ephemeral and mysterious, like Art, as they twist in the breeze.

Clotheslines were the most logical way to exhibit the photo-clad linens and artifacts to connect the viewer with this historical nostalgia. It began as granny street art at Union University while I pursued my masters in Intercultural Studies of Art and Art Education. The spontaneity of the work was NOT well received for sure. The professor ripped it down and dragged it to her office.

Choose the Memories that Make You

Such an auspicious beginning! But a perfect start of forgiveness!

Ornate table cloths from Portugal, Spain and France are my favorite objects on the clotheslines. But, there are nighties, slips, dressing gowns, embroidered sheets and pillow cases and many other items meticulously tended with photo-transfers. Each item is carefully considered as a photograph is selected and embedded in the fabric. From glamorous shots of my mom and aunt, to group family pictures of people being silly, the focus is a relational emphasis which sets up the narrative for what the past contains, as well as, how it will effect the present mindset.

After all, becoming who we are is what memories are for anyway. They are merely opportunities for us to release that which paralyzes us within unpleasantness and/or recall in order to hold onto that which gives us wings. So, the obsolete objects that I transfer the iconic family photos onto come out of the hidden places of drawers and plastic containers under the bed to shine in the light of day as reminders of the importance of living in the moment. They stand as a representation of choosing to forgive; choosing to be and to live.

It is my hope that Heirlooms of Our Mothers & Grandmothers will connect with various peoples of cultures, generations and backgrounds. I want for people to enter into the clotheslines with wonder to enjoy the work and each other.

I hope every time it is shown there will be brief encounters that makes an indelible mark on the viewer in the moment, something emotional, touching that they can take with them.

For more information on how you can support the work or dates and locations go to my webpage Jenna Fergus Art.

Next newsletter: I have no idea 🙂 I don’t know if anyone is actually even reading this one!

Follow me on Instagram: @jenna_fergus