You Have Their Eyes

This work mainly focuses on memory but also ties into memories becoming a physical form of heirlooms. I've never really had anything passed down to me that feels tangible, except my health, the melanin in my skin. I've inherited my father's temper, my mother’s laugh, the tongue for rolling my "r"s but lack the ear for knowing what anyone is saying to me, and their collective chronic illnesses; their early grays and the loss of memory. 

These are my heirlooms. When my cheeks peel and my joints ache I am reminded of my mother battling lupus and how I now do too. When I stand in a room, staring at the furniture as if it'll tell me why I walked in, when I cry over photos of who I was, I am my father. Even with these connections, I am at a loss of who I am and strive to create these heirlooms that remind me I am of these things and so much more.

Da Vinci Art Alliance

“Michelle Ortiz Fellowship”

November 3rd - November 24th, 2021