Phantom Hair

Phantom Hair is a reflection on the relationship between identity and memory.

Whether we are facing the implications of having a relative with dementia or simply acknowledging the passing of time, there comes a point in our lives where we grapple with the idea of being forgotten. The ephemeral quality of memory connects humanity in a tattered tapestry of shared experiences.

Departing from my mother’s fading sense of selfhood and my struggle with the acceptance of being forgotten, I collaborate with my son in seeing a co-created representation of my self. Inspired by personal stories that traverse generations in my family history, I explore the relationship between my inner world and nature, building bridges between trees and the brain. In Phantom Hair, time is not linear and stories of identity intertwine and repeat. With this work, I intend to explore the plurality of remembered and lived experiences that constitute the building blocks of identity. I do so in a circular way, creating a dream-like and melancholic state of suspended time. The three generations featured in the book alternate roles and their stories meld, being symbolically bound by hair.

The self-portraits in this body of work are highly experimental. Through the use of simple cameras, unpredictable processing methods and by collaborating with my son, I relinquish some of the control of the outcome of my work and use photography itself as an act of exploration. In contrast, the photography of my inner world, here represented as nature, particularly trees, is calm and pondered. Upon a closer look, however, it is clear that the subject expands beyond the framing of what is often only a detail from an intricate element of nature.