Spanish Lady (Ongoing)

Artist’s Statement

When I was ten, my mother died unexpectedly. No one quite expected it, and it shocked my entire family. Almost eleven years removed from her death, I find myself interested in death and grief as it relates to our daily lives. Death is such a universal aspect of being alive, but at the same time remains a taboo subject. This project was born out of a desire  to explore the ways grief affects us after we lose a loved one. How does one even begin to move on from such a monumental loss? In order to explore this topic, I decided to focus on my mom as the main subject of my interviews. Coming from a hispanic family, we don't exactly talk about our emotions all the time. Therefore I decided to use my family as the subject of this piece, asking them about what it was like to deal with her death, and how they dealt with it in the years that followed.. I wanted to include a notable quote from each person’s interview that stuck with me as a universal truth about the grieving process. Through this journey, I have found that one never quite gets over the death of a loved one. It’s such a terrible and unique pain, it takes a massive effort to even begin to process it. At the same time, I think that beauty can be found in grief. As we got deeper in conversation, Stories about my mom began to pour out, about how great of a person she was, funny stories from her 20’s, her spirit and determination, and as my family spoke more and more it began to sound like she was still alive. I found this quite special. I believe people live on after they die, in the memories of those who loved them. I am hopeful this project opens up a conversation around death and grief, and gives people the space to speak about their experiences with both.