Maureen

I don’t know how to write about this work so I will just tell you a story. I was raised by my nanna, Maureen. She grew up in a gypsy family and came to Australia as a ‘Ten Pound Pom’. They didn't have much but they built a life on a ten acre property with animals, fruit trees and two massive sheds. This is where my happiest memories are. My friend Ron took me on a drive last year to see what it looks like now and that's when I found out that the land is now a housing estate. I guess that sadness was the start of this project.

Nanna was a collector. Glass paperweights, magnets, souvenir spoons, objects related to ancient egypt, silver rings and brass horse tack. I only ended up with a few of these things when she passed away and many of these precious objects, these heirlooms have been lost, broken or stolen over the years. As I get older, I find myself trying to recreate her collections as a way to honour her memory. 

I’m not really sure why she was a collector. Maybe it’s because she had to leave so much behind when she moved to Australia, maybe she felt the same way I do now - trying to force memories to be a real tangible thing so they aren't ghosts anymore. I think that's what this work is really about. With every day that passes, I feel further away from her but I can reimagine those moments, memories and objects into beautiful, devotional objects. Round edges like glass paperweights, sparkly like silver rings - gems on rocks, collected and found like souvenir spoons.