Lineage

A series of family portraits

Baby and Mother

Baby and Mother Original Image

Aunt Fannie Reclining

Aunt Fannie Reclining Original Image

"Posing" Mick and Teet

Bunny Cotton Tail; Her First Mardi Gras 20 Months

Bunny Cotton Tail; Her First Mardi Gras 20 Months Original Image

Mom in Neville Classroom

Mom in Neville Classroom Original Photo

Teet and Tom in Porch Tub

Teet and Tom in Porch Tub Original Image

1937 Dance Review - Teet 9 Yrs Old

1937 Dance Review - Teet 9 Yrs Old Original Image

9 Months; Her Great Aunt. Aunt Nina Foster

9 Months; Her Great Aunt. Aunt Nina Foster Original Image

Lineage

In this series of artworks I recreate family photographs by drawing them with pen and ink or graphite on paper. I find that antique photographs alienate the viewer and only allow them to percieve the subject in the past. I am bringing both the viewer and the figure in the drawing into the present, reinvigorating the portrait by giving it new life and incorporating the artist’s hand. I chose to minimizing the details of the backgrounds to extract the narrative and bring the figures into the present. As these photographs are mostly taken from my family photo albums, I wish to draw attention to the timelessness of family and human connections. Though our clothing and images change our lineage and heritage remain. I thoroughly enjoy studying these images for hours as I draw them, as most of these ancestors only live in the stories told by my father and mother. As I place pen to paper I contemplate what their lives were like. I often question, “Who is taking the photograph, what is the subject thinking as the image is being captured?” I have been amazed at the amount of emotion I have felt while recording this series, from the hand written notes on the back of the images, to the expressions of those who came before me.