Smiling Faces

This body of work began with a box of photographs I found in my grandmother’s estate.  Most of the images dated back to the early 20^th century when she was a girl and people sent each other paper letters and snapshots.  I wasn’t sure what to do with them until I heard Billy Collins read his poem, The Revenant. It is a poem told in the voice of a dog that is dead, addressing his former owner.  The tone of the poem is, “I pretended to like you, but really I hated you.” It occurred to me that each photo had a story to tell and the real story was often hidden behind the smiling faces.  I began with the notes Grandma wrote on the backs of the photos, using the names, dates and comments to help me construct the narratives. The sinister artifacts were added to set the tone and inform the viewer what might be going on behind the smiles.