Forgive and Forget

Three poison ivy anthotypes
Approximately 24H x 18W in each
2017

Is it possible to forgive someone after they have hurt you repeatedly, and make a fresh start? My mother has been sober off and on all my life. Every relapse brings fresh pain, the memory of past betrayals, and the guilt of choosing distance over healing together. 

Forgive and Forget offers an entry point to reconciling. Made from the light sensitive juice of poison ivy, these anthotypes are exposed in sunlight, but the image has no way of being fixed, so it will gradually fade over time. Making the images of my mother out of something that causes pain but will disappear expresses the hope that I have that I can move on from our past and create a blank slate on which to rebuild our relationship.

After hanging in a gallery space with no protection from sunlight, these prints faded to a light green, no longer holding any trace of my mother’s image.

See Conditional Love.