An Impression of Trying Times
A fragile arrangement of dried branches, fallen leaves, and muted photographic fragments rests against layers of paper and plastic. The black-and-white photographs depict human figures and faces, their expressions ambiguous but weighted, what are the hidden (or not so hidden) stories that they carry? These images, juxtaposed with the brittle textures of natural elements, evoke a quiet tension between transience and permanence, between what is remembered and what is left behind. This work was created during the coronavirus pandemic, a period marked by collective loss. As the artist, I drew inspiration from the poems of Seamus Heaney, which I studied intensely in high school, particularly his reflections on “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland. His ability to intertwine the personal and the universal, the fleeting and the enduring, shaped my own exploration on loss. This work holds space for a space of reflection. Wanting to acknowledge the weight of history and memory, drawing parallels between Heaney’s evocations of war and resilience and our shared experience of loss during periods of incomprehensible tragedies.