claire daly

I am interested in the objects that people surround themselves with and ultimately leave behind.  Photos and letters that document events, family archives, obscure mementos of reminders to the past, when the owner of those memories pass, do the events evaporate as well?

In this project, I collected items that were unwanted from a lady’s house that had moved on: recyclables, collectables, and everything in between.  When pieced together they create a presence, a unique yet generic representation of someone belonging to a different generation.  It reminds me of my grandmother and the many things she held onto along with her dated traditions.  The plastic represents one of those traditions.  Wrapping a couch to preserve it, using plastic floral arrangements because they were preserved in their prime, and shrink-wrapped food to elongate its lifespan well beyond what was recommended.

To me, this summation of belongings has created an individual, summoned the owner from beyond and suspends their memories of the past.  I refer to Jennifer Gonzalez’s, Autotopographies.  She states, “the object always defies this claim (of ownership) by becoming lost, turning to dust, or, more often than not, outliving those who own it.”  The act of wrapping each object memorializes the owner, an elaborately literal shrine to the mundane. 

2021