Words.
“I used to think I couldn't lose anyone if I photographed them enough... In fact, they show me how much I've lost.” - Nan Goldin
After my mother’s diagnosis with early onset Alzheimer’s in 2012, my artwork has examined the impact of dementia on individuals. My investigation into dementia started with a series of photographs and videos that documented my mother’s progression through this disease. Half of One and Six of the Other is a series that expressed my concern over my mother’s increasingly severe symptoms, including how her symptoms affected her sense of identity. After she was admitted to a full-time care facility in 2016, I continued this investigation in Don’t Cry, It’s Not That Bad, this time examining how medical institutions positioned her as a victim of her disease, rather than an autonomous subject.
Through a critical perspective, my work has evolved to examine issues surrounding dementia in order to promote awareness and challenge stigma associated with this illness. My artwork is informed by theoretical frameworks that reinforce my interest in challenging the medical gaze and questioning biomedical models of care. Since my mother’s death in 2017, I have been recreating medical environments as large-scale installations in order to immerse the viewer into these spaces.
For more information on early onset Alzheimer's disease, please visit The Alzheimer Society of Canada.
