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Publication Date
2-1-2015
Keywords
artists'books, Student Artists' Book Contest, first
Disciplines
Book and Paper
Student Status
Undergraduate student
Year of Graduation
2016
Major
Photography
Faculty / Course
Lisa Young, Image Bank
Materials + Techniques
Fabric, ink jet prints on photo paper, matting board, archival glue
Student Narrative
Prompted by the goal of using a family archive to create narrative, I created an unbound codex of what I found to be the most genuine moments from a collection of family negatives. As if pulling this box off the closet shelf an peaking inside, there lies timeless 4x6 Kodak prints along with swatches of various fabrics. Drawing photo with swatch, pair by pair out of the box, a tactile connection is brought out of the photo by the fabric that matches a garment pictured. But something doesn't feel quite right. The moments are so authentic and the fabric feels honest to moment, but is it too good to be true that these are genuine? In reality, these are not photos of my family. My family archive is slim pickings at best; too little and too disjointed to have amassed an archive of moments like these. I was drawn to family in these photos for the love they see, to share an the sense of unity that fabrics they clothed themselves in elicit. My fascination grew into a longing that this could be my family history. Feeling these fabrics that I hunted and scavenged to match each photo brings a closer sense of reality. The lie, however, is all I truly have. I store this codex on my closet shelf, just like any family member would do.
Recommended Citation
Vasilko, Lucas; Library, Fleet; and Collections, Special, "The Resemblance is...Well..." (2015). 1st Student Artists' Book Contest 2015. 38.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/specialcollections_bookcontest1st2015/38