Portrait of a Family

This series of work focuses on the complicated nature of familial relationships, specifically on how our own memories of the past affect how we interact with each other in the present. 5,568 clay beads are arranged together to form two portraits of my parents, mimicking the way that I played with plastic Perler Beads as a child. Drawing formal inspiration from Perler Beads helps me to explore the complexity of these relationships while allowing me to connect to the playfulness and innocence of childhood. Each bead is a representation of a memory, a moment in time that can exist on its own. When placed together, a lifetime of moments are represented. These moments form the people that I perceive my parents to be today. Single moments in time can dramatically affect the way we interact with the people that are closest to us. They can be messy. They can be joyful. Ultimately, it is the accumulation of these moments that determine how we interact with, and understand each other as we move toward the future.