Starting in 2006, I began documenting the dissipation of urban character in the neighborhood of Northern Liberties. What started out as my photographing urban decay turned into a race to capture images that were giving way to the glass and concrete of real estate development. Patchwork sidewalks, graffiti, broken window panes, deteriorating brick – much of what makes the environment challenging, was being razed. The series of original prints titled “Northern Liberties Before Blatstein” refers to a complex setting altered by gentrification.
Repetitive thoughts and systematic use however, wear and burnish the mind. The longer we neglect access to the self, the more time goes by, the less aware and forgetful we become of the possibility to reset. Over time, how to do so becomes an elusive memory leaving us in vague desperation.
A sense of frustration underlies the absurdity of combining the Gestalt of function (keys) and feathers in my work. The perceived delicacy of feathers conflicts with the precision of the tool and the gouges in the silver. It looks as if the keys are worn. At the same time, we can imagine the feather’s intact quills being damaged upon use and conclude that the keys are useless. The soft feathers somehow psychologically block the function of the sterling silver keys. For us, longing for the self makes my objects precious.
