Artist Statement

Sanctuary

The woods are close. They offer safety and solace amid fear. These photographs recall the lost time of of my childhood which was fraught with the extremes of maternal love, and sudden abandonment. 

This project is an exploration of a very early childhood experience. My father died suddenly of polio when I was two. My mother raised me and my brother alone in the country in a house surrounded by vast woods. Memories of love and warmth with each evening’s bedtime story are woven with those horrible times when anger and grief overtook her. Cupboard doors would slam. Loud cries lashing out at the walls, and I thought, me. What did I do? 

Tires squealing. Would she ever come back? Run, run away to the woods. Hide, wait and hope for safety to return.  

Hiding out in the woods was my sanctuary. Reading Dr. Seuss brought magic and comfort. These photographs are meant to challenge ones sense of self as a child buffeted by these emotions. These memories are both raw and now muted by the vagaries of time and experience.