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Remembering Grandma

Not what you might be expecting ...

By Rachel WilksPublished 3 years ago 2 min read
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Grandma's Memories

My paternal grandmother passed away in May 1997, shortly before her 77th birthday, weeks before I married, and only months before my child was born.

Before her death, she had battled for many years with what was then called Senile Dementia - I am not sure if what she had was Alzheimer's or Dementia, but it robbed her of who she was, little by little.

We barely noticed at first, little things, "forgetting" and "losing" things. Then it was bigger things, burning food, getting lost, forgetting names or places.

And then she was not safe to be left alone. Doors had to be locked, carers had to be arranged, Grandad lost his independence and lifestyle, and after 55 years of marriage, she no longer knew who he was.

This image is not for grandma, and does not represent her mind, lost or otherwise, but it reminds me that we need to value our grandparents, learn from them, be their living legacy. Looking at it helps to heal the wound that still exists now that she is not here with me.

My grandmother was everything I am not, and I am not sure she would be proud of me, but I was proud of her, of all she did, of all she gave, of who she was and what she meant to me.

She was quiet and kind and tried to make things better, to avoid conflict. And she was a feeder. There was always home cooked food and a cup of tea at her house.

So Grandma's Memories is like flicking through an old photograph album or walking though an old country house, entering a Miss Marple world of memories and glamour.

It's a tribute to grandmothers, and flowers and the roaring 20s. The viewer is led through the various snapshot images by the silk rope, linking one 3d image with the next - a hot air balloon passing over a garden, to a country garden veranda with its ghostly vision, to an outside space with butterflies and flowers and back up into the sky to the single butterfly via the wishing well.

You can trace the journey in either direction and you still find your way to the sky, clear and blue, inviting you to dream.

There are 3 pseudo book marks woven into the image as a nod to the reading I was always allowed to do and that forms a vital part of who I am and how I express myself.

The image contains the sentiment "Today is a perfect day" because I want it to be something that sits in an environment created for calm, for thinking. The image is designed for creative spaces that allow the viewer to see something and dream.

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