"39"

"39"

"39" detail

 

 

This piece is titled "39".  It centers on my maternal Grandmother who when she was 39 was already a grandmother.  I turned 39 this year which has made me look closer at my life and how easy it would of been for me to have had a similar life if I had taken a different path. This work is about the choices we make in life and where they lead. My Grandmother was a single mother of 6 working the night shift in a ball bearing factory to make ends meet. No child support or state aid she did it all by herself. Everything she did was for her family. With only a high school education she worked herself to death literally so her children and grandchildren would not go without. I was just 18 when she died at the age of 56. A massive heart attack due to poor health, too much stress and too little money.  She helped to raise me when my parents divorced when I was only 6. "39" honors her memory and creates a personal family archive though imagery, correspondence and documentation.