MIKA ABBOTT

Artist Statement

Punctured (Family Album) consists of three works that each include multiple layered photographic images of 20 x 20 inches. The photographs are situated directly one on top of another with small holes punched through each layer revealing a glimpse of the image below it. Inspired by Odette’s imagery and use of holes, I began to think of photographs as representations of memory and the holes as an incomplete recollection or consciousness. Often photographs are thought of as a true reflection of reality, a reliable form of documentation and source of information—and this is how we think of our own perspective and memory: a truth-teller. From this knowledge, we shape our identity and understanding of how we got to the present moment. Each individual carries their own beliefs and delivers a unique set of ideas, thought patterns, learned behaviours, coping mechanisms, etc. The holes represent acknowledging and deconstructing what we originally thought to be true or the complete truth.

 

            Our identities are greatly shaped by a number of factors, both nature and nurture working simultaneously I believe. These factors include our bodies, sex and gender, environment, culture, linguistics, religion, family and community, the political and social circumstances in which we are born into, unique yet universal experiences that connect us all. I don’t believe it is necessary for the viewer to understand my life and circumstances to understand this work; or to be able to identity with the specifics that pertain particularly to my family album: there is still familiarity in the prairie landscape or the mundane tiled kitchen backsplash, the out-dated hotel room, the grainy texture of film, the human form and intimate relationships . The viewer has the opportunity to connect with their own associations of these references. 

 

I was moved by Odette England’s destructive treatment of her photographs and I admired her willingness to invade these spaces to rewrite their significance. This influenced my understanding of my own art, and why I wanted to punch holes into the photographs found in my family photo album. My holes are not malicious or harmful. Looking through our family photo album allows us to be time-travellers, and revisit certain people and places. It has allowed me to visit spaces I never got to personally see. Punching became a method of giving myself permission to exist freely within those spaces. I found my own truth in the holes.