Title: Life Mapping Year: 2020 Dimensions: 9 x 2.25 x 13 in Materials: Paper (maps, personal photographs, correspondence), string, vintage wooden knife holder
I participated in an online Zoom UCLA Extension class titled 'Autobiographical Collage'. This piece is one of my projects. I am always inspired by the artist Joseph Cornell, so I started with an image of the brain, and then cut out pieces of a map (with the places I have lived placed on the brain/map). I then gathered personal photographs (mostly from my youth) and personal correspondence (from friends and family). I hung key phrases from string, and cut up the other items and placed them at the bottom of the box. The container is a found vintage knife holder, likely from the 1940's.
Making and crafting is important for my mental wellness. This became especially evident during the pandemic. I had the time to go through old photographs and writings, etc.—and I was able to incorporate many of these items into autobiographic pieces. Because of the unusual down time during this COVID-19 crisis, I have been able to dive deeper into making art and craft at home—collages, prints, assemblages, etc. (This was also aided and inspired by the many virtual art-related webinars and classes available on Zoom.)
'Making' has been instrumental in my ability to cope with world events during the past 15 months.
