​​​ROSE SCHLEMMER

Gordon & Jean Thomas, 1953, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

As an artist, I am interested in memory and its relationship with objects and imagery.  My use of family photos, film, and commonplace forms comes from a desire to explore and conceptualize how dementia has affected my family and the sharing of memories.  In my work, I find an intimacy with what has been remembered and forgotten in our personal history.  I create art that focuses on hand-me-downs and fabricated objects that encourages recall.  These recognizable objects partnered with photography evoke a shared visual experience relating to memory and familiar forms we gather throughout our lives.  I utilize my metalsmithing and digital archivist skills to create jewelry and sculptural objects that form a personal and shared archive.

“Memory is, above all, archival.  It relies entirely on the materiality of the trace, the immediacy of the recording, the visibility of the image.”
    -Charles Merewether