To Have and to Hold Until Death do us Part is a two volume series of picture books appropriated from the popular Scholastic children’s book series I Spy. This series will mechanically mimic the picture riddles from the source material, but instead will ask readers to find and discover abstract concepts that are associated with the items within each composition. The narrative of the book will be inspired by my research at estate sales and observations of objects that are left behind after the death of an individual. Poignant themes within the book will be the temperance of life, persistence of object oriented identity, and the politics of nostalgia combined with the capitalist gaze. Each volume contains identical objects within each illustration except Volume 1 will contain only cyanotype representations of the items and Volume 2 will contain still-lifes rendered in watercolor: one book visually will contain abstractions and ghosts, whereas the other will contain the tangible and believable, respectively.
I interrogate the formation of memory and question its decay into nostalgia. Collecting and observing these objects that were previously part of another individual’s life story offer a new perspective on the objects that add definition to my own. Having departed, the objects collected for this series are now locked within a liminal space. Their physical form is static, but what they signify has faded and is beginning to morph.
“I spy pewter dining sets polished for their debut”, 28 1/2” x 21”, Watercolor on cold pressed paper, 2022
“I spy a candle now existing as half erect and half a pool of wax”, 29” x 20 1/2”, Cyanotype on cold pressed paper, 2022
“I spy salt and pepper shakers, and a spoon that’s been rounded to perfection”, 28” x 19 3/4”, Watercolor on cold pressed paper, 2022
"I spy silverware stacked neatly, a stocked tea cabinet, and the apple of my eye”, 29” x 20 1/2”, Cyanotype on cold pressed paper, 2022
“I spy potted plants and shiny treasure”, 28” x 20 1/2”, Watercolor on cold pressed paper, 2022
“I spy the knocking of wooden wind chimes”, 29” x 20 1/2”, Cyanotype on cold pressed paper, 2022
“I spy my files, neatly packed and stacked”, 29” x 20 1/2”, Cyanotype on cold pressed paper, 2022
"I spy waterlogged cardboard boxes and the matte musk of death and dust", 28 ⅛”x21”, Watercolor on cold pressed paper, 2022
“I spy the entertainer in me”, 29” x 20 1/2”, Cyanotype on cold pressed paper, 2022
“I spy collections of teacups with signs of oxidation where they last met thirsty lips”, 28”x 20 1/2”, Watercolor on cold pressed paper, 2022.
“I spy clothing pressed, folded, and stacked for the last time”, 27 1/2” x 20 1/2”, Watercolor on cold pressed paper, 2022
“I spy my exterior self coveted within my closet”, 29” x 20 1/2”, Cyanotype on cold pressed paper, 2022
“I spy my archive full and proud, and death marching in on a pale horse”, 29” x 20 1/2”, Cyanotype on cold pressed paper, 2022
“I spy crumpled transfer paper and a priceless archive”, 27 3/4” x 20”, Watercolor on cold pressed paper, 2022
“I spy ripened fruit”, 29 ”x 21”, Watercolor on cold pressed paper, 2022
“I spy youth among my daydreams”, 29” x 20 1/2”, Cyanotype on cold pressed paper, 2022
“I spy the raw aluminum that houses my vanity”, 29” x 20 1/2”, Cyanotype on cold pressed paper, 2022
“I spy my reflection”, 28 1/4”x 20 1/4”, Watercolor on cold pressed paper, 2022
