Liséa Lyons
This body of work is a complete departure for me in terms of process and medium. However, the underlying theme of memory through the investigation of childhood and home continues to prevail.
Some of the pieces I consider to be self-portraits, as they were derived from photographs of me taken at various ages. By not using the camera to make this work, I considered my relationship as subject rather than photographer. While other pieces reference and resemble the illustrations typical of the time period in which my mother grew up, also in the very same house I did. I have a curiosity about the experience and portrayal of post-war ideals in a time that was most likely wrought with fear and how this continues to present itself across the span of three generations.
Images from my childhood have always been an key influence for me. They were the original inspiration for my work in which I photographed my daughter, beginning almost twenty years ago. These images were small and square, with a rich palette unique to early color photography. I usually selected the few that represented what might have been an “ordinary” day in lieu of the obligatory documents of birthdays or other specific markers of time. When photographing my daughter, I vastly changed the scope- they were very large prints with hyper focus and detail. Quite the opposite of the original. These new pieces are referencing the old photographs in a sense. They are almost the original size, there is a softer less determined focus and they are unable to be exactly replicated.
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