Abstract

In the book Afro Creole by Richard Burton;  the author describes the yard (land) space as an “institution capable of binding together nuclear family units and an extended family network in a single social space and physical space…The yard is an extension of the house, just as the house is the living core of the yard; the outer limits of the yard came to represent the outer walls of the house itself”…land is to be handed down to children and children’s children, till every generation “dead out” …family land is the spatial dimension of the family line, reflecting its continuity and identity”. It is from this point that my investigation begins, questioning the consequences that result when the family unit experiences fragmentation through the process of immigration. What happens when your cultural identity is intrinsically tied to the home? What happens when that home disappears?

This idea first came to fruition after the discovery of found photographs that were taken of my family while we were living in Jamaica. We brought with us, one of the few tangible objects of our national existence prior to our move to the U.S, a stack of photographs that captured the family at various states of play. Recently I rediscovered these images, only to find out that they had been destroyed due to a flood. After inspecting the stack, each photo was bound to the next. Pulling apart each photograph carefully, trying to salvage what I could as I lifted each image. On each photograph a colorful film residue stained each side of the paper. Leaving behind a fantastical syrupy formation that destroyed the image yet had profound resonance in my current immigrant situation. The mixture of colors that bled onto the photographic surface took on a mystical dispersion across the physical photograph that seemed to reconstitute my past space by creating an expanse caught in the midst of transformation. It is from this foundation that I began to examine land as more than a stagnant form.

Using collage, the pieces created thus far resemble geological features but become more as they stand in as representations of my family members. Working with the family as the central subject matter, I am exploring how this cultural mindset could be transferred to an imaginary landscape where the human form and the territory are unable to be fractured.