ONGOING - THE BEGINNING OF GLORY

2018

My grandfather fought for his freedom in the Greek Resistance during World War II against the Communists (Albanians, and Italians) and the Germans. He created a new life when he escaped Albania by swimming across the Ionian Sea to the small Greek island of Kerkyra. The deep blue Ionian served as a channel for his own rebirth and subsequently gave life to my family; born of water.

The Beginning of Glory is a visual representation of my grandfather’s story that he wrote down before he died using photographs, objects and elements that are significant to his story and my understanding and interpretation of this aspect of family history. Multiple objects are included in these photomontages in order to add visual and conceptual depth. The ocean is a key signifier and its chaos and flow are a central theme. My compositions are comprised of photographs (of my own creation as well as those from the family archive), my grandfather’s writing (printed mostly on transparency), salt, gold leaf and acrylic paint. Through this work, I act as a surrogate for my grandfather. Much of the work focuses on his swim, but I have also incorporated photographs from Albania and Corfu in an attempt to show a broader view of his journey.

I start by arranging the composition; the photographs that I use are mostly printed on either photo lustre or canvas inkjet papers. I then adhere the photographs to a primed masonite board. From here, I add my grandfather’s writing and gold leaf if the composition calls for it. I then submerge the entire composition in salt water. I let the water run off the surface of the composition allowing the salt to dry.

Salt acts as a connective quality throughout my work, representing both the salt in the water and the salt in our bodies that connects us all. The salt on these prints creates a line from my grandfather’s beginning to my present and tells the story of a family that, without a pivotal relationship with water, would not exist at all.