Fractured/Gathered

In November 2020, my mother mailed me a box of Japanese pottery she had collected over the last 30 years. The box arrived with over half its contents shattered, some fragments ground to dust. As I unpacked broken bowl after broken bowl, I grieved-not just over broken pottery, but over the heartache of being separated from family during the Covid-19 pandemic; over loss of connection, income, and stability; over our broken and fractured communities. 

 

Photographing these pieces has been an act of catharsis, a way to process internalized anxiety, worry and grief. The inclusion of gold leaf evokes the Japanese art of Kintsugi, a method of repairing broken pottery using precious metals such as gold and silver. Through this process, brokenness becomes the grounds for transformation. These prints are a reflection of fracturing and loss as well as an appeal for hope, resilience, and renewal. A declaration that perhaps what has been ruptured can be restored.