When Jeanne Was Down

Nelle and Myself Summer at Lavallette, 2013. Acrylic ink and colored pencil on paper, 4¾” x 5 ½”

Just Before Leaving for Oakland, Calif., 2013. Watercolor, acrylic ink and colored pencil on paper, 1 ½” x 2”

Patty My Little Flower Girl, 2013. Watercolor, acrylic ink and colored pencil on paper, 4”x 5 ½”

The 4 of Us, 2013. Watercolor, acrylic ink and colored pencil on paper, 8” x 10 ½”

The 4 of Us, detail, 2013. Watercolor, acrylic ink and colored pencil on paper, 8” x 10 ½”

David, 2013. Acrylic ink and colored pencil on paper, 3” x 4”

Easter 1978 Christmas Cactus Bloomed, 2013. Watercolor, acrylic ink and colored pencil on paper, 4 ¾” x 2 ½"

Tracy & Bob (Aw, She’s Better Lookin Than That),Forest Park St Louis Mo, 2013. Watercolor, acrylic ink and colored pencil on paper, 7” x 9”

Tracy & Bob (Aw, She’s Better Lookin Than That), detail, Forest Park St Louis Mo, 2013. Watercolor, acrylic ink and colored pencil on paper, 7” x 9”

On the Lake, 2013. Acrylic ink and graphite on paper, 3 ¾” x 3 ¾”

Uncle Harold, 2013, acrylic ink and colored pencil on paper, 9 ¼” x 6”

Uncle Harold, detail, 2013. Acrylic ink and colored pencil on paper. 2013, 9 ¼” x 6”

Uncle Harold, detail, 2013. Acrylic ink and colored pencil on paper, 9 ¼” x 6”

Mike ’61, 2013. Watercolor, acrylic ink and colored pencil on paper, 3 ½” x 3 ½”

Bruce Birthday, 2013. Watercolor, acrylic ink and colored pencil on paper, 5 ½” x 3 ½”

When Jeanne Was Down Came Over To Water The Flowers, MFA Thesis Exhibition, intallation view, UAG, UC Irvine, 2013.

When Jeanne Was Down Came Over To Water The Flowers, MFA Thesis Exhibition intallation view, UAG, UC Irvine, 2013.

After reading an article about hundreds of damaged photographs found on the streets of New York after Hurricane Sandy, I began thinking about the power of these small objects to record history and hold memory, and what happens when this record is lost. This work originated from several collections of family photographs I purchased in bulk on the internet, driven by my curiosity about these personal archives being sold to strangers.

By using drawing as a method of bringing oneself into direct relation with a subject, I attempt to become intimate with everyday moments in the lives of people I don't know. Acknowledging that my attempt to excavate meaning from the photographs is flawed, I have stacked the drawings on top of one another in dense layers, obscuring parts of the drawings, while adding to their physical weight, a parallel to the way memory is embodied.

Both image and object, the drawings emphasize the pictorial and the sculptural. The small scale of the work forces viewers to position their body closer in order to see, but the stacking prevents fragments from becoming a whole.

Nicole Capps