Alexandra Janson

GLADYS (?)  is a collection defined by a single photograph. When I found the image, a photograph of my great-grandmother in her 30s, I felt deeply nostalgic about a time that I did not even exist for. I began to seek whether or not I could give this moment that was entirely not mine, but felt so familiar, a tangible form. The photo’s  stillness inspired me: how can something so flat, so fixed, be given life again? I returned to the photo over and over again, distorting its properties until I could no longer recognize the image. The photo’s stagnant yet ready to be morphed nature informed every silhouette in the collection, giving concrete form to a moment that could have been lost. The use of metal in the collection acts as a way to suspend a moment in time, preserving it in a fixed, sculptural state, while the leather offers a counterpoint - its nature allowing memory to continue taking on new forms. This collection is the unfolding of one moment, revisited and reimagined until it takes on a new identity.