Salutations 2127, 2021

Unique Archival Pigment Print, Graphite, Color Pencil Salutations mines an archive of letters written to my grandmother by my grandfather, a man I never met. Almost a century later he has become my unwitting collaborator. To make these prints I scan and print the original documents after digitally erase my grandfather’s handwriting, leaving behind postmarks, folds and stamps as remnants of touch, time and travel. I then trace his handwritten words onto these “empty” prints, replacing his writings with mine, resulting in an indecipherable new language. The transcribing of my grandfather’s hand is an intimate gesture that recognizes a shared ancestry while acknowledging the inability to unlock time’s secrets. Existing between looking and reading the work shifts the narrative from one that is directly told to one that is more deeply. I tell this story not because it is unique, but because it is common and sits at the edge of my own identity. The works are monoprints using reclaimed ink from empty inkjet cartridges on inkjet photo paper, a blend of photography, drawing and printmaking.