Memories illuminate much of our rich life as human beings. It gives us potential to learn, tell stories, and immortalize each other by reflecting or remembering loved ones. Using my bachelor project as a beginning phase in my research around memories, I decided to expand it to include the question, "How do we represent the past to ourselves and to others?
Through my visual analysis of the creation and design of an Illustrative work, I quickly noticed that I increasingly reached for the concept of memory. This led me to various sources where I could make connections to my own practice and interest. Through those sources, I stumbled upon different creators who took the concept of memory in an experimental route through. A crucial memory element is a continuous alternation between the graspable and the lacking. This is where artists often address it from different points of view and incorporate it into various art forms. My research around memories began in my bachelor project where I focused on how to represent memories as an illustrator but also as an individual, like myself. This research could go very broad but I was able to delineate it by using my own memories and how I grew, adapted and developed as a person. Because of my Asian origins, I grabbed directly to cultural research around the east and south-east of Asia and how the history around illustration and images came to be. Putting a focus on Japanese history, I bumped into the technique called Mokuhanga木版画. It is a woodcut technique that also has the designation Ukiyo-e 浮世絵(prints of the flowing world). I thought it would be very interesting to carry this out but instead of landscapes and portraits, I poured my own illustrative adaptation into my woodcuts which, as a result, exude a more personal portrayal. I started collecting photos and conducting interviews with family via webcam to collect stories and images. I processed this in a sketchbook to use as an archive of memories for my woodcuts. I also continued to experiment with a Japanese painting technique called Tarashikomi (meaning ‘dripping in’) which I also started in my bachelor project last year. I eventually decided to work with a fixed grid where I depict a memory for each year that I’ve lived. Finally, it all gathers into different kinds of books that be stored in a personal archive where my memories are kept.